title: A measure of neurobehavioral functioning after coma. Part I: Theory, reliability, and validity of Disorders of Consciousness Scale.
abstract: This is longitudinal validation study describes the psychometric properties of the Disorders of Consciousness Scale (DOCS). This is Part I of a two-part series. Part II illustrates and describes the clinical and scientific implementation of the DOCS measure. The study was conducted at one intensive care unit, two acute rehabilitation hospitals, and one long-term acute chronic care hospital. Participants were unconscious after severe brain injury (BI). We conducted interrater reliability analyses using ratings from interdisciplinary pairs. Results indicated a higher-than-expected level of agreement and no significant difference between any pairs ( chi-square = 8(5df), p = 0.15) (df = degrees of freedom). Examinations of ratings by discipline groups indicated that the DOCS is impacted minimally by discipline. Validity analyses demonstrate that 23 of 34 test stimuli remain stable over time with no floor or ceiling effect. DOCS measures obtained within 94 days of injury predicted recovery of consciousness up to 1 year after injury (c-indices of 0.70 and 0.86). Positive (0.71) and negative (0.68) predictive values indicate that the DOCS predicts recovery and lack of recovery. Twenty-three of the DOCS test stimuli produce a reliable, valid, and stable measure of neurobehavioral recovery after severe BI that predicts recovery and lack of recovery of consciousness 1 year after injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, PO Box 5000 (M/C 151H), Hines, IL 60141, USA. Theresa.Pape@med.va.gov
authors.forename: Theresa Louise-Bender
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Pape
authors.forename: Allen W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Heinemann
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Anita Giobbie
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Hurder
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lundgren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003128:Coma / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003244:Consciousness Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D012372:ROC Curve; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile