Dimensions of the functional assessment inventory for five disability groups

The Functional Assessment Inventory (FAI) is used to assess functional capacities and limitations by a number of state rehabilitation agencies and other service groups working with people with disabilities. Previous investigations into the factor structure of the Functional Assessment Inventory reported by Crewe and Athelstan (1984) suggested that the FAI had the same factor structure for a variety of different disability groups. However, fairly heterogeneous disability groups were investigated using relatively small samples. This study used a sample of 5,741 applicants to Arkansas Rehabilitation Services to investigate the dimensionality of the FAI for 5 relatively homogeneous disability groups: orthopedic/amputation, chronic/physical condition, mental illness, mental retardation, and learning disability. Principal factor analyses with Promax rotations identified different factor structures for the different disability groups. A simple scoring system and sets of norms for the 5 disability groups and for a broadly representative disability group were developed.