A study published online September 2 in Prosthetic and Orthotic International used the Prosthetic Limb Users Survey of Mobility (PLUS-M) to examine the advantages and disadvantages of computerized adaptive test and short forms. The results indicate that the PLUS-M computerized adaptive test is most efficient, and differences in scores between administration methods are minimal.
Researchers compared the participants’ scores from the computerized adaptive test to their scores from the fixed-length short forms (7-item and 12-item). During the observational, cross-sectional study, administration time, correlations between the scores, and standard errors were compared. Results showed that scores and standard errors from the computerized adaptive test, 7-item short form, and 12-item short form were highly correlated and all forms of administration were efficient. The computerized adaptive test required less time to administer than either paper or electronic short forms; however, time savings were minimal compared to the 7-item short form. The main advantage of the computerized adaptive test was more reliable scores at higher levels of mobility compared to short forms.
