Actual reality: a new approach to functional assessment in persons with multiple sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the use of an innovative approach for assessing everyday life activities of people with multiple sclerosis (MS): Actual Reality. Actual Reality is a performance-based assessment approach that involves the use of the internet to perform real, everyday life activities.


METHODS
A between-subjects design.


METHODS
Outpatient rehabilitation institute.


METHODS
Persons (n=21) with clinically definite MS and healthy controls (HCs) (n=18) without any reported neurologic disabilities participated in this study. Participants were between the ages of 21 to 60 years, and the sample consisted of volunteer sample.


METHODS
Not applicable.


METHODS
Participants were asked to access the internet to purchase airline tickets for a round trip flight and were administered the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Functioning in Multiple Sclerosis. Participants also completed questionnaires to assess quality of life (Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis), functional status (Functional Behavior Profile), and prior Internet experience.


RESULTS
The MS group displayed significantly more difficulties than the HC group in accurately and independently completing the Actual Reality task primarily because of cognitive impairment. Self-report of quality of life and functional status were not correlated with Actual Reality performance in the group of people with MS. However, the self-report measures were significantly associated with affective symptomatology.


CONCLUSIONS
These results provide initial evidence supporting the use of the Actual Reality approach in assessing persons with MS performing everyday life activities. Actual Reality is a significant step forward in increasing the sensitivity, accessibility, and relevancy of functional assessments in people with cognitive and physical disabilities.
Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, NJ, USA.
Yael
Y
Goverover
Amanda R
AR
O'Brien
Nancy B
NB
Moore
John
J
DeLuca
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult