Development of the Functional Mobility Assessment Family Centered Version
Pediatric wheeled mobility devices require periodic updating to accommodate children's physical growth, changing needs, and device maintenance requirements. Valid and reliable instruments are needed to facilitate the WMD assessment process and to evaluate the effect of new WMDs on clients' functional status. While the Functional Mobility Assessment (FMA) is currently available for use with adults, no similar instrument has been developed for children. In this dissertation study, the Functional Mobility Assessment Family Centered Version (FMA FC) was developed to fill this void in assessment technologies. Content validity of the FMA FC was established qualitatively using interviews with parents/caregivers and therapists with expertise in WMD assessment. Using the relevance scale, quantitative content validity of the FMA FC Beta Version 1, as rated by parents/caregivers was 92 percent and as rated by therapists was 99 percent. Parents/caregivers and therapists indicated that the meaning of items was clear and all items were easy to rate. Both test retest reliability (ICC .85) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .87) of FMA FC Beta Version 3 were found to be acceptable.