Development and validation of the Paediatric Care and Needs Scale (PCANS) for assessing support needs of children and youth with acquired brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
The Paediatric Care and Needs Scale (PCANS) is a newly developed scale that assesses support needs following childhood acquired brain injury (ABI). It yields three measures of support: overall, extent and intensity. The developmental process of the PCANS is described and concurrent and construct validity examined.


METHODS
In the validation study, 32 parents/caregivers of children with ABI aged 5-18 years completed the PCANS and other validating measures: Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), Functional Independence Measure for Children (Wee-FIM) and King's Outcome Scale of Childhood Head Injury (KOSCHI). VABS and Wee-FIM sub-scales examining similar and dissimilar domains to the PCANS were used to investigate convergent and divergent validity, respectively. Discriminant validity analysis used sub-groups dichotomized by VABS and KOSCHI data.


RESULTS
Statistically significant correlation coefficients of moderate-to-strong magnitude were found between the PCANS support intensity score and most of the VABS, Wee-FIM and KOSCHI variables (r(s) = -0.46 to r(s) = -0.77, p < 0.01). Some evidence for convergent and divergent validity was also found. Correlation coefficients between similar domains of the PCANS and other scales were moderately high (e.g. VABS socialization vs PCANS psychosocial items, r(s) = -0.64, p < 0.01). Conversely, correlation coefficients between dissimilar domains were low (e.g. Wee-FIM self-care vs PCANS psychosocial items, r(s) = -0.29). In terms of discriminant group differences, PCANS support extent and intensity scores were able to distinguish between sub-groups dichotomized by VABS and KOSCHI scores.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide preliminary evidence for the validity of the PCANS for assessing support needs after paediatric ABI.
Soo
Cheryl
C
Faculty of Medicine, Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney, Australia. cheryl.soo@mcri.edu.au
Tate
Robyn L
RL
Williams
Lindy
L
Waddingham
Skye
S
Waugh
Mary-Clare
MC
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000592:standards; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile