Psychometric properties of the community integration questionnaire in a heterogeneous sample of adults with physical disability.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the psychometric properties of the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) in a mixed sample of adults with physical disabilities. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, survey study. SETTING: Academic and community medical clinics, national registry, and self-referral. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling adults with spinal cord injury (n=146), multiple sclerosis (n=174), limb loss (n=158), or muscular dystrophy (n=273). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: CIQ, General Health item from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and Mental Health Scale from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. RESULTS: Based on the original scoring procedures, the CIQ Total scale and Home Integration subscale demonstrated acceptable internal consistency; however, reliability indices for the Social Integration and Productive Activities subscales were suboptimal. The exploratory factor analysis yielded a 4-factor solution (accounting for approximately 63% of the variance) that did not replicate the original factor structure of the CIQ. The results of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a modified 3-factor solution provided the best fit to the data from our samples. Using a revised scoring system based on these findings, the CIQ demonstrated improved reliability relative to the original scoring and good concurrent validity. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide general support for the validity of the CIQ as a measure of participation in adults with physical disabilities. However, our results indicate that some small modifications to the original scoring system are needed to optimize its use in this patient group. Additional research is needed to refine the measurement of participation in these and other populations.