The Kennedy Krieger Independence Scales-Spina Bifida Version: A Measure of Executive Components of Self-Management

Purpose/Objective: Successful implementation of functional self-care skills depends upon adequate executive functioning; however, many scales assessing adaptive skills do not address the inherent executive burden of these tasks. This omission is especially relevant for individuals with spina bifida, for whom medical self-care tasks impose a significant burden requiring initiation and prospective memory. The Kennedy Krieger Independence Scales Spina Bifida Version (KKIS-SB) is a caregiver-reported measure designed to address this gap; it assesses skills for managing both typical and spina bifida-related daily self-care demands, with a focus on the timely and independent initiation of adaptive skills. Research Method/Design: Parents of 100 youth and young adults with spina bifida completed the KKIS-SB. Exploratory factor analysis and Pearson's correlations were used to assess the factor structure, reliability, and construct validity of the KKIS-SB. Results: The scale demonstrates excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .891). Exploratory factor analysis yielded four factors, explaining 65.1% of the total variance. Two primary subscales were created, initiation of routines and prospective memory, which provide meaningful clinical information regarding management of a variety of typical (e.g., get up on time, complete daily hygiene routines on time) and spina bifida-specific self-care tasks (e.g., begin self-catheterization on time, perform self-examination for pressure sores). Conclusions/Implications: Based upon internal consistency estimates and correlations with measures of similar constructs, initial data suggest good preliminary reliability and validity of the KKIS-SB.