VALIDATION DATA

MEASUREMENT PROPERTIES
Limitations >=5 European languages (English)
Observations
1. RELIABILITY
A. Internal Consistency Tested
Cronbach's (Describe)

Excellent internal consistency and stability, with Cronbach's alpha greater than 0.90. 

B. Reliability intraobserver or test-retest Tested
Continuous scores: intraclass
correlation coefficient (ICC)
Dichotomus: Cohen kappa (Describe)

Dysfunction index ICC > 0.9. Bother index (0.7 < ICC < 0.9

C. Reliability interobserver or Measurement error Tested
Standard error of measurement (SEM),
smallest detectable change (SDC) or
Limits of agreement (LoA) (Describe)

SEM of 7.8 for the dysfunction index and 10.1 for the bother index

2. VALIDITY
A. Content validity: face validity Tested
Expert opinion (relevance and
comprehensiveness) (Describe)

Content validity for the dysfunction and bother indexes was supported with very little skew (less than 1.00), few ceiling effects (less than 5 percent), and no floor effects.

B. Construct Validity:
Structural validity
Tested
Hypotheses-testing Tested
Cross-cultural validity Tested
Brief Description

The construct validity of SMFA appears to be adequate as the scores of both indexes correlate moderately to highly with disease specific and generic PROs evaluating perceived physical function. Moreover, correlations between SMFA scores and clinical measures such as range of motion, walking speed or strength are lower, as expected, as they represent different constructs. SMFA also discriminates successfully between subgroups based on clinical or demographical characteristics known to influence function

C. Criterion validity Tested
Comparison with a 'gold standard' Continuous scores:
correlations, ROC curves Dichotomus:
Sensitivity & Specificity (Describe)

Convergent validity was supported with significant correlations between the SMFA dysfunction and bother indexes and the physicians' ratings of patient function (for example, activities of daily living, recreational and leisure activities, and emotional function [rho > or = 0.40]) and standard clinical measures (for example, grip strength and walking speed [r > or = 0.401).