Functional independence measure (FIM) assessing outcome in medical rehabilitation of neurologically ill adolescents.

With the Functional Independence measure, which is a reliable and valid instrument, data can be collected for large groups of persons with different disabilities. For the first time the FIM has been used for outcome assessment in medical rehabilitation of a cohort of neurologically ill adolescents. The instrument is appropriate for this purpose. The severity of disability, which changes during rehabilitation of adolescents, is adequately estimated with FIM. The motor FIM and the cognitive FIM can be summed up separately for evaluation. In our investigation the construct validity of the cognitive FIM was demonstrated: the cognitive FIM showed a high correlation with the degree of neuropsychological impairment following brain damage. Psychiatric disorder does not correlate with the motor FIM and the severity of disability.