Skip to main content
Log in

Validating the Functional Capacity Index as a measure of outcome following blunt multiple trauma

  • Published:
Quality of Life Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background: The validity of the Functional Capacity Index (FCI) is evaluated by examining its distributional characteristics, its correlation with other well-known measures of outcome and its ability to discriminate among persons with injuries of varying type and severity. Methods: A telephone survey which included the FCI and the SF-36 was administered 1 year post-injury to 1240 blunt trauma patients discharged from 12 trauma centers. A subsample of 656 patients also completed the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) by mail. Results: FCI scores correlated well with the physical health subscores of the SIP and SF-36. They also correlated well with self-reported change in health status and return to work. The FCI, when compared to either the SF-36 or the SIP, however, appears to discriminate better among patients according to the presence and severity of head trauma. Conclusions: While further testing of the FCI is needed, it holds promise as a preference based measure for assessing the physical impact of trauma.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. MacKenzie EJ, Damiano AM, Miller T, Luchter S. The development of the Functional Capacity Index. J Trauma 1996; 41: 799–807.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ware JE, Sherbourne CD. The MOS 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care 1992; 30: 473–483.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bergner M, Bobbitt RA, Carter WB, et al. The SIP: Development and final revision of a health status measure. Med Care 1981; 19: 787–805.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Gillott AR, Thomas JM, Forrester C. Development of a statewide trauma registry. J Trauma 1989; 29: 1667–1672.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. The Abbreviated Injury Scale. Des Plaines, IL, 1990.

  6. McDowell I, Newell C. Measuring Health. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ware JE, Kosinski M, Bayliss MS, et al. Comparison of methods for the scoring and statistical analysis of the SF-36 health profile and summary measures: Summary of results from the Medical Outcomes Study. Med Care 1995; 33: AS264–AS279.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ware JE. The SF-36 Health Survey. In: Spilker B (ed), Quality of life and Pharmacoeconomics in Clinical Trials, Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven Publisher, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Liang MH, Larson MG, Cullen KE, et al. Comparative measurement efficiency and sensitivity of five health status instruments for arthritis research. Arthritis Rheum 1985; 28: 542–547.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kleinbaum DG, Kupper LL. Applied Regression Analysis and Other Multivariable Methods. Boston, MA: Duxbury Press, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Baker SP, O'Neill B. The Injury Severity Score: An Update. J Trauma 1976; 16(11): 882–885.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Gold MR, Siegel JE, Russell LB, Weinstein MC. Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Ware JE. The status of health assessment in 1994. Annu Rev Public Health 1995a; 16: 327–354.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Stewart AL, Ware JE (eds). Measuring Functioning and Well-Being: The Medical Outcomes Study Approach. London and Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Guyatt GH, Jaeschke R, Feeny DH, Patrick DL. Measurements in clinical trials: Choosing the right approach. In: Spilker B (ed), Quality of life and Pharmacoeconomics in Clinical Trials, Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven Publishers, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ware JE, Brook RH, Davies AR, et al. Choosing measures of health status for individuals in general populations. Am J Public Health 1981; 71: 620–625.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Feeny D, Furlong W, Boyle M, Torrance GW. Multiattribute health status classification systems: The Health Utilities Index. PharmacoEconomics 1995; 7: 490–502.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Nagi S. An epidemiology of disability among adults in the United States. Milbank Mem Fund Q 1976; 54: 439–468.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ware JE, Kosinski M, Keller SD. SF-36 Physical and Mental Health Summary Scores: A User's Manual. Boston, MA: The Health Institute, New England Medical Center, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  20. DeBruin AF, De Witte LP, Stevens F, et al. Sickness Impact Profile: The state of the art of a generic functional status measure. Soc Sci Med 1992; 35: 1003–1014.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Temkin N, McLean A Jr, Dilunen S, et al. Development and evaluation of modifications to the Sickness Impact Profile for head injury. J Clin Epidemiol 1988; 41: 47–57.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Martin DP, Engelberg R, Agel J, Swiontkowski M. Comparison of the Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Questionnaire with the Short Forin-36, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and the Sickness Impact Profile Health Status Measures. J Bone Joint Surg 1997; 70-A: 1323–1335.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Kaplan RM, Bush JW. Health-related quality of life measurement for evaluation research and policy analysis. Health Psychol 1982; 1: 61–80.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Holbrook TL, Anderson JP, Sieber WJ, et al. Outcome after major trauma: Twelve and eighteen month follow-up results from the Trauma Recovery Project. J Trauma 1999; 46(5): 765–773.

    Google Scholar 

  25. EuroQol Group. EuroQol: A new facility for the measurement of health-related quality of life. Health Policy 1990; 16: 199–208.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

MacKenzie, E., Sacco, W., Luchter, S. et al. Validating the Functional Capacity Index as a measure of outcome following blunt multiple trauma. Qual Life Res 11, 797–808 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020820017658

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020820017658

Navigation