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The purpose of this special communication is to describe the application of the Kappa coefficient for the estimation of interobserver agreement. Kappa is a preferred statistic for the estimation of the accuracy of nominal and ordinal data in clinical research by physical therapists. A brief introduction to the properties of the Kappa coefficient is given, and a special case of Kappa for multiple ratings per subject is explained. A FORTRAN program, written specifically for the multiple-ratings situation, is described.

This paper investigates predictors of life satisfaction and quality of life among severely disabled elderly adults. Markides and Martin's (1979) path analysis model was adapted specifically to elderly persons with severe disabilities. The study group comprised 97 patients discharged from three medical rehabilitation facilities in metropolitan Boston during 1984. The adapted model explained about 40% of the variance in quality of life among both men and women, with functional capacity being the most important predictor.