Assessing independence in mobility activities in trauma care: Validity and reliability of the Activity Independence Measure-Trauma (AIMT) in humanitarian settings

The importance of measuring outcomes after injury beyond mortality and morbidity is increasingly recognised, though underreported in humanitarian settings. To address shortcomings of existing outcome measures in humanitarian settings, the Activity Independence Measure-Trauma (AIM-T) was developed, and is structured in three subscales (i.e., core, lower limb, and upper limb).

This study aimed to assess the AIM-T construct validity (structural validity and hypothesis testing) and reliability (internal consistency, inter-rater reliability and measurement error) in four humanitarian settings (Burundi, Iraq, Cameroon and Central African Republic). The findings support the AIM-T validity in measuring independence in mobility activities and its reliability in humanitarian settings, as well as it informs on its interpretability. Thus, the AIM-T could be a valuable measure to assess outcomes after injury in humanitarian settings.

This article relates to R2HC funded study: Determinants of functional outcomes after trauma in humanitarian settings