The development of factor-based level of functioning scales from a level of care instrument.

A factor analysis of data from 1,295 administrations of a level of care instrument produced a seven-factor solution. The scales developed from these factors through a simple unit weighting procedure were internally reliable and replicable on an additional sample of clients. The seven factors are discussed in terms of level of functioning measures. Results suggest that community living skills and self-care skills are two among several robust dimensions of level of functioning in psychiatric clients. Implications are discussed.