- The Spinal Cord Injury Functional Ambulation Profile (SCI-FAP) is a clinician-administered, performance-based measure of functional walking for people with incomplete SCI
- The SCI-FAP is based on the Modified Emory Functional Ambulation Profile (mEFAP)
Clinical Considerations
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Patients are asked to perform 7 tasks: carpet, up & go, obstacles, stairs, carry, step, and door.
ICF Domain
Activity ▶ Mobility
Administration
- Clinician-administered; self-report and performance-based measure
- Administration time is 30 minutes
Number of Items
7
Equipment
- Masking tape
- Stopwatch
- Carpet – no less than 7m long and 2m wide (5m are timed)
- Standard armchair (44cm seat height)
- 2 standard bricks
- A trash can
- 4 stairs with bilateral handrails 29-cm stair depth, 76-cm stair width, 15-cm stair height, 76-cm platform depth, and 76-cm platform width.
- A shoulder bag with 5lb weight inside
- A step
- A door, 4-cm door depth, 95-cm door width, and 211-cm door height
Participants are instructed to use an assistive device and/or braces as needed.
Scoring
- Scoring of the SCI-FAP takes into account task performance at a comfortable pace, as well as the degree of assistance received
- Task score (max 300) is calculated from time taken, level of assistance, and normative time taken
- Total score (max 2100) is the sum of task scores
Languages
English
Training Required
Does not require advanced training; however, reading the article/manual is recommended.
Availability
The Spinal Cord Injury Functional Ambulation Profile (SCI-FAP) worksheet can be found in the appendix of the following article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21357530/
# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 5
Interpretability
- Lower score reflects better function
- No cut scores or norms have been established for the SCI population
MCID: not established in SCI
SEM: not established in SCI
MDC: SCI-FAP score: 95.7 // SCI-FAP time: 114.2
(Post 2-month precision training: Musselman and Yang 2013; n=20; 14 males, 6 females; incomplete SCI; and mean (SD) time since injury: 5.4 (8.8) years)
Reliability
- High Test-retest Reliability: ICC = 0.983
(Musselman et al. 2011; n=22; incomplete SCI; >6 months post-SCI) - High Inter-rater Reliability: ICC = 1.000
(Musselman et al. 2011; n=32; 24 males; mean (SD) age: 47.6 (14.2); incomplete SCI; WISCI score 8-20; and mean (SD) time since SCI: 7.0 (8.7) years)
Validity
- Correlation of SCI-FAP is moderate with the:
- 10-MWT (r=-0.59)
- 6-MWT (r=-0.59)
- WISCI-II (Self-selected WISCI level, r=-0.68; maximal WISCI level, r=-0.70)
- Correlation of SCI-FAP is high with the Functional Gait Assessment (ρ=-0.83)
- Correlation of SCI-FAP is moderate to high with the Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ρ=0.67 to -0.76)
(Musselman et al. 2011; n=32; 24 males; mean (SD) age: 47.6 (14.2); incomplete SCI; WISCI score 8-20; and mean (SD) time since SCI: 7.0 (8.7) years
(Shah et al. 2017; n=26; 20 males,6 females; mean (SD) age: 59.7 (18.9); 5 ASIA C, 21 ASIA D; and chronic)
(Kahn et al. 2020; n=12; 11 males, 1 female; mean (SD) age: 55.41 (11.65); 7 cervical, 5 thoracic; 2 ASIA C, 10 ASIA D; mean (SD) time since injury: 7.8 (7.8) years)
Responsiveness
Standardized Response Means:
- SCI-FAP Score: 0.5
- SCI-FAP Total Time: 0.5
- SCI-FAP Tasks: 0.4 – 0.6
No correlation between SCI-FAP change scores and 10 Metre Walk Test or 6 Minute Walk Test changes
(Post 2-month precision training: Musselman and Yang 2013; n=20; 14 males, 6 females; incomplete SCI; and mean (SD) time since injury: 5.4 (8.8) years)
Floor/ceiling effect
Not established in SCI
Reviewers
Dr. Janice Eng, Dr. Carlos L. Cano-Herrera, Tyra Chu
Date Last Updated
31 December 2024
Kahn JH, Ohlendorf A, Olsen A, Gordon KE. Reliability and Validity of the Functional Gait Assessment in Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil. 2020;26(4):268-274. doi: 10.46292/sci19-00069. Epub 2021 Jan 20. PMID: 33536732; PMCID: PMC7831281.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33536732/
Musselman K, Brunton K, Lam T, Yang J. Spinal cord injury functional ambulation profile: a new measure of walking ability. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2011;25(3):285-93.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21357530
Musselman KE, Yang JF. Spinal Cord Injury Functional Ambulation Profile: a preliminary look at responsiveness. Phys Ther. 2014;94(2):240-50.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24114437
Shah G, Oates AR, Arora T, Lanovaz JL, Musselman KE. Measuring balance confidence after spinal cord injury: the reliability and validity of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale. J Spinal Cord Med. 2017 Nov;40(6):768-776. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2017.1369212. Epub 2017 Sep 6. PMID: 28875768; PMCID: PMC5778940.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28875768/
