title: Assessing and comparing the outcome measures for the rehabilitation of adults with communication disorders in randomised controlled trials: an International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health approach.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the assessment instruments and relevant outcome measures used in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) relating to interventions for adults with communication disorders, and then examine and compare the domains of the outcome measures using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a reference tool.
  
  
  METHODS
  Published RCTs with primary focus on the effectiveness of rehabilitation for adults with communication disorders were systematically reviewed. Identified RCTs were examined for all the assessments used as outcome measures. Distinctions were made between the use of standardised assessment tools and non-standardised empirical measures. The key concepts examined by the outcome measures were then linked to the ICF using the established ICF linking rules.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The systematic review included 24 RCTs in which 11 trials used non-standardised empirical assessment as the outcome measure, and 18 trials included standardised instruments as the outcome measure. It is clear that all the identified items and meaningful concepts from the assessment used in the included studies can be linked to the ICF categories. Of the 108 linked level-two ICF categories, 53% were linked to 'body functions', 36% to 'activity and participation' and 9% to 'environmental factors'.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A wide range of outcome measures have been used in RCTs of interventions for adults with communications disorders. The ICF provides a clarifying framework for systematically gathering and examining the information about the content of outcome measures and then can be used as a common reference to identify and compare the domains of the outcome measures. The high proportion of elements relating to body functions raises some questions about the purpose and aims of the interventions.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, School of Allied Health Professions, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. tx208@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Tengbin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bunning
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hartley
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires