Psychometric evaluation of the profile of functional impairment in communication with traumatically brain-injured children

The Profile of Functional Impairment of Communication (PFIC) was employed t o examine communication by children with a traumatic brain-injury (TBI) dur ing a family problem-solving discussion. Communication by 11 children with a TBI was compared with that of 11 children with orthopaedic injuries. Chil dren with a TBI evidenced impaired communication on five of the 10 subscale s of the PFIC. Injury severity was significantly correlated with scores on nine of the 10 PFIC subscales. Adequate inter-rater reliability was found f or eight of the PFIC subscales. These results provide encouraging prelimina ry evidence for the use of the PFIC in assessing children with a TBI.