The Spinal Functional Abilities Scale (S-FAS) measures how well patients perform tasks that are usually affected by Spinal Cord Dysfunction (SCD).

There is one question for each domain (5 total); each question is self-reported:

  • Bladder functioning
  • Bowel incontinence
  • Mobility
  • Transfers
  • Self-care

ICF Domain

Activity and Participation ▶ General tasks and demands

Administration

  • Each question response is on a scale of 1 to 3, 1 to 4 or 1 to 5 (1 = highest functioning).
  • The scores from each response are then summed and would range from 5-19.

Number of Items

5 questions

Equipment

None

Languages

English

Training Required

No advanced training required.

Availability

Can be found by contacting the author (Peter W. New; p.new@cgmc.org.au).

# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 1

Interpretability

MCID: not established in SCI
SEM: not established in SCI
MDC: Mean (SD) scores: 10.9 (3.1)

Reliability

Internal consistency of the S-FAS is Moderate: α = 0.71

(New et al. 2016)

Validity

There is Moderate correlation with the SCI-QOL: ρ = –0.34

(New et al. 2016)

Responsiveness

Not established in SCI.

Floor/Ceiling Effect

There was no significant floor or ceiling effect:

  • Floor: (3.3%).
  • Ceiling: (0.7%).

(New et al. 2016)

Reviewers

Dr. Bill Miller, Gurmann Gill, Risa Fox

Date Last Updated

3 August 2020

New PW. Secondary conditions in a community sample of people with spinal cord damage. J Spinal Cord Med. 2016;39(6):665-670. doi:10.1080/10790268.2016.1138600 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5137565/ 

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