• Developed by experienced clinicians to assess cognitive and self care skills required by individuals with an SCI below C7 to perform self-care
  • Cognitive and functional skills are measured in eight self-care areas:
    • Bathing/grooming
    • Nutritional management
    • Medications
    • Mobility/transfers/safety
    • Skin management
    • Bladder management
    • Bowel management
  • The items in the SCAT consider the use of physical assistance as well as assistive devices. The scale for each item is yes/no/not applicable.

Clinical Considerations

  • The SCAT was developed specifically for the SCI patient population whereas many other self-care measures have been developed for a broad range of health conditions
  • The tool has been used in both the rehabilitation and community setting
  • However, the SCAT does not appear to be widely used in research

ICF Domain

Activity ▶ Self-Care

Administration

Interviewer-administered test.

Number of Items

81 (41 cognitive and 40 functional).

Equipment

None

Scoring

  • A cognitive and a functional subscale score can be calculated as well as an overall score, although no details are provided on how to calculate the scores.
  • The items in the SCAT consider the use of physical assistance as well as assistive devices.
  • The scale for each item is yes / no /not applicable.

Languages

English

Training Required

None

Availability

Can be found by contacting the author (SM McFarland) from this study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1292085/

# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 1

Interpretability

MCID: not established in SCI
SEM: not established in SCI
MDC: not established in SCI

No standardized norms are available and no results were reported so it is difficult to make any comparisons.

Reliability

  • Test-retest reliability is High for the SCAT-Functional subscale (r = 0.80-0.86), and Low to High for the SCAT-Cognitive subscale (r = 0.47-0.80) and SCAT total (r = 0.45-0.69).
  • Inter-rater reliability is High for the SCAT-Cognitive subscale (r = 0.69-0.93), SCAT-Functional subscale (r = 0.80-0.92), and the SCAT-Total (r = 0.74-0.93).

(McFarland et al. 1992; n=47; mean age: 38 (range 14-65))

Validity

  • Low Hierarchal regression model of SCAT-Cognitive with predictive value at 6 months following discharge:
    R2 =  0.61
  • Moderate Hierarchal regression model of SCAT- Functional with predictive value at 6 months following discharge:
    R2 =  0.82
  • High Hierarchal regression model of SCAT-Total with predictive value at 6 months following discharge:
    R2 =  0.90
  • RANKING N/A Content for all areas of the scale (over 90% agreement) validated by clinical nurse specialists.

(McFarland et al. 1992; n=47; mean age: 38 (range 14-65))

Responsiveness

No values were reported for the responsiveness of the SCAT for the SCI population.

Floor/Ceiling Effect

No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the SCAT for the SCI population.

Reviewer

Dr. Carlos L. Cano-Herrera, Tyra Chu

Date Last Updated

31 December 2024

McFarland SM, Sasser L, Boss BJ, Dickerson JL, Stelling JD. Self-care assessment tool for spinal cord injured persons. SCI Nursing 1992;9:111-116.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1292085

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