Psychometric Properties of the Dance Functional Outcome Survey (DFOS): Reliability, Validity, and Responsiveness

There are no outcomes measures that focus on the unique functional requirements of dancers. To evaluate test-retest reliability, internal consistency, construct validity, sensitivity, and responsiveness of the Dance Functional Outcome Survey (DFOS) in professional and preprofessional adult dancers. This prospective cohort study examined test-retest reliability of the DFOS in 198 healthy and injured dancers over 2 weeks, using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC ). In a sample of 725 healthy and injured dancers, the following were examined: (1) construct validity, by comparing the DFOS to the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) using Pearson correlations; (2) exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency; and (3) sensitivity, by generating receiver operating characteristic curves and determining area under the curve (AUC). In a subgroup of 47 injured dancers, we determined internal responsiveness across 4 time points using repeated-measures analysis of variance (P