Inter-rater reliability of formally trained and self-trained raters using the Edmonton Functional Assessment Tool.

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to determine the inter-rater reliability of the revised version of the Edmonton Functional Assessment Tool (EFAT-2). A second objective was to determine whether both formally trained and self-trained therapists had an acceptable level of inter-rater reliability. The EFAT-2 was administered to consenting palliative care patients by one of two independent physical therapist rater pairs; one pair self-trained (R1, R2) and the other formally trained (R3, R4). The intraclass correlation [ICC (1,1)] for R1, R2 was 0.97 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94-0.99] and for R3, R4 was 0.95 (95% CI 0.90-0.98). The standard error of measurement was 1.09 and 1.44, respectively. The Kappa statistic for the rater pairs on individual EFAT items ranged from 0.17 to 0.96. The results suggest that both formally trained and self-trained therapists obtain an acceptable level of inter-rater reliability when using the EFAT-2.