THE BARTHEL ADL INDEX - FACTOR STRUCTURE DEPENDS UPON THE CATEGORY OFPATIENT

The validity and reliability of the Barthel index were studied in 60 g eriatric patients, 87 stroke patients, and 102 patients with hip fract ure, using a factor analysis methodology which explicitly accounts for the ordinal nature of the scoring on each item. The findings substant iate that the Barthel index is unidimensional among stroke patients, b ut not among geriatric patients or patients with hip fracture. In the latter two groups, one factor related to mobility, the other to bodily functions. A sum-score to characterize geriatric and hip fracture pat ients does not take into account the complex structure of the Barthel index.