FIM FIM Assessment and Administration 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In FIM research, 'inter-rater reliability' refers to?
- Consistency of a single rater over time
- Agreement between two different raters scoring the same patient (Correct answer)
- The validity of the FIM scale
- Patient's ability to self-report
Correct answer: Agreement between two different raters scoring the same patient
Inter-rater reliability measures how consistently two different clinicians assign the same FIM score when observing the same patient.
Question 2: The FIM has demonstrated strong predictive validity for which outcome?
- Mortality rates
- Discharge destination and caregiver burden (Correct answer)
- Length of illness
- Medication adherence
Correct answer: Discharge destination and caregiver burden
Research demonstrates that FIM scores are strong predictors of discharge destination (home vs. facility) and the amount of caregiver assistance required.
Question 3: 'Intra-rater reliability' in FIM assessment means?
- Agreement between two raters
- Consistency of one rater's scores across multiple assessments of the same patient (Correct answer)
- The accuracy of FIM compared to another scale
- Patient agreement with the score
Correct answer: Consistency of one rater's scores across multiple assessments of the same patient
Intra-rater reliability measures whether a single rater assigns consistent FIM scores to the same patient across different assessment occasions.
Question 4: The FIM has been shown to have 'ceiling effects' primarily in which population?
- Patients with severe traumatic brain injury
- Patients with mild impairments who are nearly independent (Correct answer)
- Patients with spinal cord injury
- Patients with severe stroke
Correct answer: Patients with mild impairments who are nearly independent
The FIM ceiling effect occurs with mildly impaired patients who score near the maximum, limiting its sensitivity to detect further improvement.
Question 5: FIM training and reliability certification is administered by which organization?
- AOTA
- UDSMR (Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation) (Correct answer)
- APTA
- CMS
Correct answer: UDSMR (Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation)
UDSMR provides FIM credentialing, training, and reliability testing for clinicians and facilities using the FIM instrument.
Question 6: The FIM has demonstrated 'construct validity' by showing that FIM scores correlate with?
- Patient age and gender
- Hours of caregiver assistance required (Correct answer)
- Number of diagnoses
- Insurance type
Correct answer: Hours of caregiver assistance required
FIM construct validity is supported by strong correlations between FIM scores and the actual hours of caregiver assistance needed per day.
FIM FIM Assessment and Administration 2
In FIM research, 'inter-rater reliability' refers to?