A patient-oriented health status measure in outpatient rehabilitation.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of a patient-centered health status measurement tool in multiple outpatient rehabilitation clinics and to characterize health status before and after an outpatient physical therapy intervention as part of that assessment.


METHODS
Six outpatient rehabilitation clinics voluntarily agreed to incorporate a standardized patient-centered health status questionnaire into everyday practice. Patients completed the SF-36 health status questionnaire before initiating treatment and again at discharge. Only nonsurgical patients without comorbidities were enrolled.


RESULTS
Voluntary application of the SF-36 on a small scale was achieved over a period of 3-4 mo. All health concepts improved except general health perceptions.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that (1) a standard patient-oriented health status questionnaire can be incorporated into outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and useful information can be derived regarding outcomes; (2) careful administrative coordination is necessary to optimize follow-up and decrease burden on both patients and clinicians; (3) although improvements in health status were demonstrated, small sample sizes and the lack of control groups prevents conclusions regarding the effectiveness of physical therapy treatment; and (4) the magnitude of effect sizes suggests that controlled studies could be performed by clinicians partnering with researchers to improve outpatient rehabilitation.
Mossberg
K
K
Department of Physical Therapy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-1028, USA.
McFarland
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile