Psychometric Properties of the Scorable Self-Care Evaluation 324 May/June 2004, Volume 58, Number 3 Melinda H. Tarbell, Alexis D. Henry, Wendy J. Coster Melinda H. Tarbell, MS, OTR/L, is Occupational Therapy Clinician, Acute Care Rehabilitation Department, Concord Hospital, Concord, New Hampshire 03301; mtarbell@highstream.net Alexis D. Henry, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, and Adjunct Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Center for Mental Health Services Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. Wendy J. Coster, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Associate Professor and Director of Occupational Therapy Programs, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to examine evidence for the reliability and validity of the Scorable Self-Care Evaluation (SSCE), an 18-item assessment of observed and perceived self-care perfor- mance commonly used with persons with psychiatric disabilities. METHOD. As part of a longitudinal study, 70 adults with psychiatric disabilities were administered two cog- nitive measures, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the Logical Memory subscales of the Weschler Memory Scale, at baseline, and the SSCE at follow-up. After transforming the weighted item scores, intraclass correla- tion coefficients were used to examine inter-rater reliability and Rasch analysis was used to examine internal consistency of the SSCE. Spearman rank-order correlations were used to examine construct validity. RESULTS. High interrater reliabilities were found for the four subscale scores (ICCs ranging from .96 to 1.00, p < .001) and the total scores (ICC =. 98, p < .001) of the SSCE. Rasch analysis indicated that no items misfit; however, some items showed a weak distribution across all possible scores. The SSCE subscale and total scores correlated to varying degrees with the cognitive measures. CONCLUSION. The SSCE has the potential to be a reliable and valid clinical measure, as demonstrated by the results of the current study. However, these results were only achieved using a transformation of the cur- rent scoring system for the SSCE, pointing to the need for further revision of the test items and scoring system. Tarbell, M. H., Henry, A. D., & Coster, W. J. (2004). Psychometric properties of the scorable self-care evaluation. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58, 324–332. I ndependent functioning in the community requires mastery of a variety of basic and instrumental activities of daily living. Basic activities of daily living (ADL) include self-care tasks such as dressing, eating, grooming, and toileting. Additional activities required for independent living in the community are often referred to as instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and include activities such as money and household management, shopping, and community mobility (Rogers & Holms, 2003). Some argue that “functioning” is also a measure of social perfor- mance, including age appropriate tasks such as working, attending school, form- ing relationships, and socializing with peers (Kuntz, 1995). ADL and IADL per- formance is linked to—and may be affected by—cognitive functioning (DePoy & Gitlow, 1998). Research has shown a relationship between measures of cognition and measures of ADL and IADL capacity among individuals with varying dis- abling conditions (e.g., Allen & Blue, 1998; Diamond, Felsenthal, Macciocchi, Butler, & Lally-Cassady, 1996; Neistadt, 1994). There is considerable evidence that cognitive impairments often accompany serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depres- sion, placing individuals with these disorders at risk for difficulties in daily func- tioning (Green, 1996, 2000; Schretlen, et al., 2000). Specific cognitive impair- ments associated with mental disorders include difficulties with memory, Downloaded From: http://ajot.aota.org/ on 10/20/2018 Terms of Use: http://AOTA.org/terms