Abstract: Assessment of functional ability is main item of outcome measure in patients with spinal cord injury(SCI).The assessment methods include Barthel Index(BI),Modified Barthel Index(MBI),Functional Independence Measure(FIM),Spinal Cord Lesion Independence Measure(SCIM) and Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury(WSCI).SCIM was specifically developed to measure functional ability for spinal cord lesion,which was modified for two times and verified in multicenter international study.The result of multicenter international study showed that SCIM is a reliable and useful quantitative representation of a specific construct of independence after SCI.This justifies the use of SCIM in clinical research,including cross-cultural trials.Meanwhile,further refinement is needed.

Key words: spinal cord injury, functional ability, Spinal Cord Independence Measure(SCIM)