Reliability of a brief outpatient functional outcome assessment measure

The stability of the musculoskeletal form of the Medical Rehabilitation Follow Along (MRFA) instrument was examined in 47 patients receiving outpatient rehabilitation services. The MRFA instrument was designed to provide information on quality of daily living, including physical function, pain, satisfaction, and emotional/psychological well-being. The instrument consists of thirty questions and can be administered as an interview or a written questionnaire. The MRFA instrument was developed using Rasch analysis procedures and is an extension of previous research involving the Functional Assessment Screening Questionnaire. Forty-seven patients completed the musculoskeletal form of the MRFA on two occasions separated by an interval of 1 to 7 days. The stability of responses was examined using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and kappa. ICC values for the sections of the MRFA instrument examining quality of daily living and physical functioning ranged from 0.74 to 0.97. ICC values for items assessing pain and feelings of well-being were more variable, ranging from 0.36 to 0.93. The kappa values displayed a similar pattern. The overall stability of the MRFA instrument was found to be adequate for gathering screening information in outpatient settings. Additional research is necessary to confirm the findings of this investigation and extend the results to a larger outpatient population.