Abstract
Background and Purpose: In recent years, the importance of evaluating limitations to activities of daily living and disability in ICU has been recognized. The functional status score for the ICU (FSS-ICU) was developed in order to evaluate the degree of disability in critically ill patients, but its reliability has not been examined. In the present study, we investigated the reliability of the FSS-ICU in acute hospital patients. Subjects and Methods: Twelve adult acute hospital patients who underwent physical therapy for limitations to activities of daily living had their FSS-ICU evaluated. The interrater reliability of the FSS-ICU was assessed for 12 physical therapists, and 12 nurses. Results: The interrater reliability among the physical therapists and nurses was “Fair” to “Moderate”, with Fleiss' κ of 0.27-0.55, and 0.22-0.49, respectively. Conclusions: The FSS-ICU has a low reliability, and it may be necessary to train staff members regarding how to perform this evaluation method when utilizing it as a common evaluation scale in team medical care.
