Functional Independence Measure (FIM) assessing outcome in medical rehabilitation of neurologically ill adolescents

With the Functional Independence measure, which is a reliable and valid ins trument, data can be collected for large groups of persons with different d isabilities. For the first time the FIM has been used for outcome assessmen t in medical rehabilitation of a cohort of neurologically ill adolescents. The instrument is appropriate for this purpose. The severity of disability, which changes during rehabilitation of adolescents, is adequately estimate d with FIM. The motor FIM and the cognitive FIM can be summed up separately for evaluation. In our investigation the construct validity of the cogniti ve FIM was demonstrated: the cognitive FIM showed a high correlation with t he degree of neuropsychological impairment following brain damage. Psychiat ric disorder does not correlate with the motor FIM and the severity of disa bility.