Inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Taiwanese rehabilitation functional scale

The need of a standardized evaluation tool for clinical practice is acknowledged by occupational therapists worldwide. The purpose of this study was to examine the inter-rater and test-retest reliabilities of the Taiwanese Rehabilitation Functional Scale (TaRFS) developed in Taiwan. Seventy-five subjects with varying diagnoses were recruited to participate in the study. They came from an inpatient rehabilitation unit within a university-affiliated hospital. All participants were tested on a functional measure of their independence on activities of daily living and cognitive-social tasks, and of their sense of well-being. The Activity of Daily Living (ADL) and Cognitive-Social Skills (CSS) subscales of the TaRFS were found to be reliable across raters and times. But individual items on the Subjective Well Being subscale were not stable across time. The results indicated that the ADL subscale as well as most items in the CSS subscale of the TaRFS can be utilized reliably in clinical practice. The SWB subscale of the TaRFS may need further revision in order to be used stably across time. The development of the TaRFS and future revision of the scale can be beneficial for occupational therapists in Taiwan to provide evidence of their intervention efficacy.