Assesses functional capacity in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders
                        
                        
                            Thomas L. Patterson, PhD, and Dawn I. Velligan, PhD
                        
                        
                            A performance-based measure of functional capacity that assesses an individual's ability to perform key tasks of daily living
The BIFCA is designed to be used as a coprimary outcome measure in clinical trials of cognition-enhancing drugs for adults with schizophrenia and related disorders.
Features and benefits
- Development was sponsored by a government-industry-academic collaboration (MATRICS-CT).
 - Has a demonstrated relationship to cognitive deficits and functional outcomes.
 - Emerged from multiple studies investigating psychometric properties and cross-cultural adaptability of coprimary measures.
 - Subtests were selected for their interpretability across cultures.
 - Features convenient administration and is easy to include with other outcome measures.
 
                         
                            
                                Test structure
Modules assess functional capacity in three areas of basic living skills: Comprehension and planning, household management, and work and productivity. Through standardized role-play activities, individuals demonstrate their capacity to plan, to identify problems and generate solutions, and to persist in an activity.
Technical information
Reliability and validity data are drawn from a sample of schizophrenia patients that was used to examine functional outcome.
Available in other languages
- The BIFCA kit, which includes an English-language manual and language-specific Administrator's Forms, Laminated Respondent's Sheet, and Shopping List Tablet, has been translated into Spanish for Spain and Spanish for Central and South America. 
 - The BIFCA has also been translated into German, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Hindi, and Japanese. Call 1.800.331.8378 for more information.