Physical Rehabilitation Accessibility Assessment Questionnaire for People With Physical Disability: A Development and Validation Study in Iran

The primary focus in the rehabilitation services program is the universal coverage of these services, in other words, to provide better access to these services in any place and situation. The present study aimed to develop and validate a physical rehabilitation accessibility assessment questionnaire as a standardized instrument that can be adaptable to people with physical disabilities. 

An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used to develop and validate this questionnaire. Appropriate content was prepared through the literature review, related studies analysis, and focus group discussions with a qualitative approach. Then, the face, content, and construct validity and reliability of the questionnaire were evaluated. 

The physical rehabilitation accessibility questionnaire with 17 items was formulated, and its psychometric properties were evaluated through testing in a study sample of 200 people with disabilities who filled up the questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that 81% of the variance of the accessibility to physical rehabilitation services was determined by four factors of affordability, transport, social support, and information access. Indices of PCFI=0.772, PNFI=0.717, NFI=0.877, CFI=0.952, CMIN/DF=1.867, RMSEA=0.066, and AGFI=0.871 confirmed the fitness of the final model. The convergent and divergent validity and reliability of the questionnaire were also confirmed. 

The questionnaire has an appropriate psychometric property that makes it useful for assessing the accessibility of physical rehabilitation services for people with physical disabilities. This questionnaire can be used in subsequent studies to measure the accessibility of rehabilitation services.