Initial psychometric evaluation of the Community Participation Activation Scale

Background. Current assessments do not capture the dynamic and complex process of managing different individual and environmental factors influencing community participation post-stroke. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Community Participation Activation Scale (CPAS) in persons with stroke. Method. Rating scale structure, unidimensionality, reliability and precision, construct validity, and differential item functioning of the CPAS were examined with 93 community-dwelling people with stroke. Findings. The CPAS consists of 15 action items and 10 attitude items. Person separation reliabilities of the action and attitude domains were .75 and .72, respectively, and internal consistency reliabilities were good (>.80). The CPAS showed low to moderate correlation with community integration and enfranchisement constructs. Implications. The CPAS may be used as an assessment to better understand an individual's level of activation and to inform individually designed, participation-focused interventions, although it needs further improvement to be used as a clinical measure.