To develop a self-report version of the WISCI and to test its reliability and validity.
Two self-report versions of the WISCI were developed and tested across two sites – one at a SCI rehabilitation center in Australia, and one in Italy. Both versions were administered in English at the Australian site, and in Italian at the Italian site through an online platform. The format of the first self-report version (SR-V1) was similar to the original face-to-face WISCI. The second self-report version (SR-V2) had more questions, but each question required participants to focus on one aspect of walking at a time. Eighty people with SCI completed the two self-report WISCI versions using the online platform (with telephone assistance) on two separate occasions, three to seven days apart. After this, an independent physiotherapist administered the original WISCI through a face-to-face assessment. The intra-rater reliability and validity of the two self-report WISCI versions were determined with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and percent close agreements.
The data from the Australian and the Italian sites were pooled. The validity and reliability of the two self-report WISCI versions were very similar, with the second version performing slightly better than the first. The ICC (95% confidence interval) of SR-V2 was 0.87 (0.81–0.92). The ICC reflecting the agreement between the self-report and the face-to-face WISCI was 0.89 (0.84–0.93).
We have developed two self-report versions of the WISCI which provides a simple, reliable, and valid way to assess walking. Both versions provide a reasonable substitute for a face-to-face assessment. Whilst the participants did not have a clear preference for one version over the other, the therapists involved in the study preferred the SR-V2.
The self-report WISCI can be easily accessed by researchers via an app that was developed after completion of the study and can be found on https://www.wisci.org/
Outcome measures
Mobility
