A cross-validation of the comprehensive assessment of activities of daily living after stroke.

This study aimed to determine whether the Frenchay Activities Index and the Barthel Index assess different factors in stroke patients who survive for more than one year. The Frenchay Activities Index and the Barthel Index were administered via telephone interview. One hundred and twenty-four patients from the community participated in the study. All items of the Barthel Index and the Frenchay Activities Index, except reading books, were included in a factor analysis to determine the underlying constructs of the items. Four factors were found. One factor comprised all items from the Barthel Index and one item from the Frenchay Activities Index. The rest of the Frenchay Activities Index items loaded on three other factors. The combined scores, using simple transformation, had satisfactory distributions. The results support the hypothesis that the Frenchay Activities Index and the Barthel Index assess different factors in stroke patients who survive for more than one year. The Barthel Index score and the Frenchay Activities Index score could be combined to assess the entire range of activities of daily living functions in stroke.