Items were developed and refined using literature review and expert consultation, focus groups of expert TBI clinicians, and the results of two pilot studies (see Whyte et al., 2003).Ī 45-item research version of the MARS was subjected to item response analysis (Whyte et al., 2003) and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (Hart et al., 2006) to produce the current, 22-item MARS. The MARS was designed as an observational rating scale to provide a reliable, quantitative and ecologically valid measure of attention-related behavior after TBI.

Thus, they might not adequately measure clinically important dimensions of attention-such as resistance to distraction, the ability to make decisions about how to deploy one’s attention, or consistency of attention over time. One may make informal or bedside assessments of a patient’s attention in the real-world environment, but these might not be reliable, and do not allow for quantitative assessment of changes over time, or in response to treatment.

Traditional attention tests are typically highly structured, time-limited, and administered in an environment that minimizes distractions. Psychometric measures of some of these constructs are available, but an attention battery might not be feasible in the clinical setting, either because of time constraints or because patients are too impaired to undergo testing. Collaborators from other TBI Model System centers were also instrumental in testing the reliability of the MARS.Īttention deficits are nearly ubiquitous after traumatic brain injury, but can be hard to measure for several reasons.įirst, “attention” is not a unitary construct but encompasses a number of cognitive processes from arousal and basic orienting to higher level processes overlapping with executive control-multitasking, error monitoring, etc. The Moss Attention Rating Scale (MARS) was developed by John Whyte, MD, PhD, Tessa Hart, PhD, and colleagues at the Moss TBI Model System at MossRehab Hospital and Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute.

Download free sheet moss