Publications by authors named "Diane E Brandt"
Objective: To assess psychometric properties of the improved Work Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB 2.0).
Design: Longitudinal study.
Validation of the Work-Disability Physical Functional Assessment Battery.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
September 2018
Objective: To examine the validity of the self-report Work-Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB) physical function scales relative to clinician ratings of function and a performance-based functional capacity evaluation called the Physical Work Performance Evaluation (PWPE).
Design: Cross-sectional.
Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation.
Purpose: To expand content of the physical function domain of the Work Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB), developed for the US Social Security Administration's (SSA) disability determination process.
Methods: Newly developed questions were administered to 3532 recent SSA applicants for work disability benefits and 2025 US adults. Factor analyses and item response theory (IRT) methods were used to calibrate and link the new items to the existing WD-FAB, and computer-adaptive test simulations were conducted.
Background: The Work Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB), developed for potential use by the US Social Security Administration to assess work-related function, currently consists of five multi-item scales assessing physical function and four multi-item scales assessing behavioral health function; the WD-FAB scales are administered as Computerized Adaptive Tests (CATs).
Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the WD-FAB Physical Function and Behavioral Health CATs.
Methods: We administered the WD-FAB scales twice, 7-10 days apart, to a sample of 376 working age adults and 316 adults with work-disability.
Objective: To develop a system to guide interpretation of scores generated from 2 new instruments measuring work-related physical and behavioral health functioning (Work Disability - Physical Function (WD-PF) and WD - Behavioral Function (WD-BH)).
Design: Cross-sectional, secondary data from 3 independent samples to develop and validate the functional levels for physical and behavioral health functioning.
Subjects: Physical group: 999 general adult subjects, 1,017 disability applicants and 497 work-disabled subjects.
Objective: To assess the feasibility and psychometric properties of 8 scales covering 2 domains of the newly developed Work Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB): physical function (PF) and behavioral health (BH) function.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: Community.
Purpose: Disability data inform resource allocation and utilization, characterize functioning and changes over time, and provide a mechanism to monitor progress toward promoting and protecting the rights of individuals with disability. Data collection efforts, however, define and measure disability in varied ways. Our objective was to see how the content of disability measures differed in five US national surveys and over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To develop and test an instrument to assess physical function for Social Security Administration (SSA) disability programs, the SSA-Physical Function (SSA-PF) instrument. Item response theory (IRT) analyses were used to (1) create a calibrated item bank for each of the factors identified in prior factor analyses, (2) assess the fit of the items within each scale, (3) develop separate computer-adaptive testing (CAT) instruments for each scale, and (4) conduct initial psychometric testing.
Design: Cross-sectional data collection; IRT analyses; CAT simulation.
Physical and mental impairments represent the 2 largest health condition categories for which workers receive Social Security disability benefits. Comprehensive assessment of physical and mental impairments should include aspects beyond medical conditions such as a person's underlying capabilities as well as activity demands relevant to the context of work. The objective of this article is to describe the initial conceptual stages of developing new measurement instruments of behavioral health and physical functioning relevant for Social Security work disability evaluation purposes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To develop a broad set of claimant-reported items to assess behavioral health functioning relevant to the Social Security disability determination processes, and to evaluate the underlying structure of behavioral health functioning for use in development of a new functional assessment instrument.
Design: Cross-sectional.
Setting: Community.
Objective: To use item response theory (IRT) data simulations to construct and perform initial psychometric testing of a newly developed instrument, the Social Security Administration Behavioral Health Function (SSA-BH) instrument, that aims to assess behavioral health functioning relevant to the context of work.
Design: Cross-sectional survey followed by IRT calibration data simulations.
Setting: Community.
Objectives: To build a comprehensive item pool representing work-relevant physical functioning and to test the factor structure of the item pool. These developmental steps represent initial outcomes of a broader project to develop instruments for the assessment of function within the context of Social Security Administration (SSA) disability programs.
Design: Comprehensive literature review; gap analysis; item generation with expert panel input; stakeholder interviews; cognitive interviews; cross-sectional survey administration; and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to assess item pool structure.
Objective: To determine the feasibility of tracking stroke patients' functional outcomes in an integrated health system across a care continuum using the computer version of the Activity Measure of Post-Acute Care (AM-PAC).
Setting: A large integrated health care system in northern California.
Participants: A total of 222 stroke patients (aged ≥18 years) who were hospitalized after an acute cerebrovascular accident.
Objective: To determine the impact of postacute care site on stroke outcomes.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Four northern California hospitals that are part of a single health maintenance organization.