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Friedreich's%20Ataxia%20Impact%20Scale%20(FAIS)
Availability

Please visit this website for more information and to obtain a copy of the instrument: Friedreich's?Ataxia?Impact?Scale

Classification
Supplemental for Friedreich's Ataxia (FA)
Short Description of Instrument
The Friedreichs Ataxia Impact Scale is made up of 126-items and measures eight areas: speech, upper limb functioning, lower limb functioning, body movement, complex tasks, isolation, mood and self perceptions.
 
Three shorter versions are available that were adapted for observational studies, more disabled, and less disabled patients.
 
Strengths: The scale can be shortened to three alternate versions because the item locations of each subscale are calibrated with respect to each other. Any subset of items can be used and generate results that are referable back to the original 126-item scale.
 
Weaknesses: There are four main limitations: 1) the data generated are ordinal rather than interval, 2) scores for people and samples are scale dependent, 3) scale properties such as reliability and validity are sample dependent, and 4) the data are only suitable for group studies, not individual patient assessment.
References

Cano SJ, Riazi A, Schapira AH, Cooper JM, Hobart JC. Friedreich's ataxia impact scale: a new measure striving to provide the flexibility required by today's studies. Mov Disord. 2009 May 15; 24(7): 984-92.

 

Document last updated February 2018