Journal of Rehabil itation Research & Development Use of Rasch person-item map in exploratory data analysis: A clinical perspective

Abstract—The National Institutes of Health (NIH) includes visual impairment in the 10 most prevalent causes of disability in America. As rehabilitation programs have the potential to restore independence and improve the quality of life for affected persons, NIH research priorities include evaluating their effectiveness. This article demonstrates a clinical perspec-tive on the use of the Rasch person-item map to evaluate the range and precision of a new vision function questionnaire in early analysis (prior to full sample). A self-report questionnaire was developed to measure the difficulty that persons with dif-ferent levels of vision loss have performing daily activities. This 48-item Veterans Affairs Low-Vision Visual Functioning Questionnaire (VA LV VFQ-48) was administered to 117 low-vision patients. Preliminary analysis indicates that the ques-tionnaire items are applicable to persons of differing abilities