A prospective study to validate an impairment questionnaire for major trauma survivors.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate an impairment questionnaire that will provide an estimate of whole-person impairment in patients who have suffered major trauma.


METHODS
This was a multicenter prospective study involving a convenience sample of 43 volunteer participants who had sustained major trauma within 1 yr of study commencement. Patients were recruited from two trauma centers in Ontario, Canada. The impairment questionnaire was developed as a self-administered questionnaire based on the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Fourth Edition.


RESULTS
Clinician assessments of whole-person impairment showed adequate interrater (r > or = 0.55, P < or = 0.03) and intrarater (r > or = 0.62, P < or = 0.055) reliabilities across dimensions. The impairment questionnaire correlated significantly with clinician assessments at the initial visit (r > or = 0.57, P < 0.001) and at follow-up (r > 0.60, P < 0.001). Comparison of the physical and emotional subcategories of the impairment questionnaire, whole-person impairment ratings by physicians, and the Short Form 36 demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity of the impairment questionnaire.


CONCLUSIONS
The impairment questionnaire is a reliable and valid self-administered tool that can be used to evaluate physical impairment after major trauma.
Marshall
Shawn C
SC
Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Rehabilitation Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Gray
Daryl
D
Wilson
Keith G
KG
Yelle
Jean-Denis
JD
Hébert
Paul
P
O'Rourke
Keith
K
Jamshidi
Maryam
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*