Measuring participation in people living with multiple sclerosis: a comparison of self-reported frequency, importance and self-efficacy.
OBJECTIVE
To compare three dimensions related to participation in everyday situations in community-dwelling adults with multiple sclerosis (MS).


METHODS
Mail survey was obtained from 112 respondents. Data were analyzed using Kendall's tau-b correlation coefficients between responses to participation items relative to three question dimensions (importance, frequency, and self-efficacy) and criterion variables (mobility, depression, general health, fatigue and pain).


RESULTS
No significant associations were found between item responses in the importance dimension and the criterion variables. Weak associations were found for items in the frequency dimension, and stronger associations were found for items in the self-efficacy dimension.


CONCLUSIONS
Different dimensions of participation in specific life situations yielded different responses and associations of those responses with key criterion measures. Subjective importance of participating in everyday situations is relatively independent of measures of mobility, general health, depression, fatigue and pain. Subjective judgments of self-efficacy for participation are more closely linked to these criterion measures. Caution is warranted when interpreting scales of participation because participation is a complex construct, potentially composed of several dimensions.
Yorkston
Kathryn M
KM
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-6490, USA. yorkston@u.washington.edu
Kuehn
Carrie M
CM
Johnson
Kurt L
KL
Ehde
Dawn M
DM
Jensen
Mark P
MP
Amtmann
Dagmar
D
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology; D011177:Postal Service; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires