Construct validation of the Hoensbroeck Disability Scale for Brain Injury in acquired brain injury rehabilitation.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the construct validity of the Hoensbroeck Disability Scale for Brain Injury (HDSB) against the Disability Rating Scale (DRS).


METHODS
The HDSB was correlated with the DRS at admission, 6 weeks later and at discharge in 33 brain injured patients during post-acute rehabilitation. Next, to study the longitudinal construct validity of the HDSB the mean changes in score of the HDSB and the DRS were correlated. Finally, the sensitivity to change over a 6-week period was evaluated by comparison of the effect sizes of the HDSB scores with the DRS scores.


RESULTS
The HDSB subscales correlate high and in the expected direction with the DRS at all three points in time. The correlation of the changes between HDSB and DRS is moderate, but in the expected direction. The sensitivity to change in time of the HDSB is lower than that of the DRS.


CONCLUSIONS
This study supports the validity of the HDSB as an instrument to describe the disability of acquired brain injury patients at a single point in time. Its ability to measure changes in disability over time is questionable and needs further investigation.
Torenbeek
M
M
Samenwerkende Revalidatie Centra Limburg, Rehabilitation Center Hoensbroeck, The Netherlands.
van der Heijden
G J
GJ
de Witte
L P
LP
Bakx
W G
WG
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior