10-1 BEITI – A new valid instrument for use by physical therapists for evaluating daily functional activities.

BEITI – A new valid instrument for use by physical therapists for evaluating daily functional activities

Nava Eckstein  M.Sc.P.T

Abstract

Background:  Improvement of functional abilities is one of the main goals of physical therapy treatment. This article presents a new instrument for measuring functional status for use by physical therapists working in units for continuing care who treat patients in their homes and for therapists in the community. The new instrument is called BEITI – an acronym for the Hebrew words for Examining Daily Functional Ability.

Aim: To determine the validity and reliability of the BEITI test 

Methods: The study included 101 subjects, average age 68.5, who were post CVA, or who were diagnosed with Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis, or fractures of the lower limb. Each subject was tested at two points in time, on admission and on discharge from rehabilitation, with four different evaluation instruments: The Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Timed Get Up and Go Test (TGUGT) and the BEITI test.

Results: The BEITI test showed a strong internal validity (Chronbach's alpha was 0.97). A strong positive correlation was found between BEITI scores and FIM scores on admission and discharge (Pearson correlation of 0.81 and 0.86, respectively) and between BEITI and BBS scores on admission and discharge (Pearson correlation of 0.85 and 0.86, respectively).

Conclusions The time needed to perform the test is short and there are no additional costs. The test was found to be highly correlated with other instruments used for evaluating functional status in physical therapy. The BEITI test is suitable for evaluation of older subjects and for use by physical therapists working in the community.

Key Words: Assessment, Function, Rehabilitation, Community, Home Care