Responsiveness of four participation measures to changes during and after outpatient rehabilitation.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the responsiveness of 4 participation measures.


METHODS
Longitudinal study with repeated measurements at the start (t1) and at the end (t2) of a multidisciplinary out-patient rehabilitation programme, and at 4 months follow-up (t3).


METHODS
Outpatients with different diagnoses (n=395) from 5 rehabilitation centres in The Netherlands.


METHODS
Measures were the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI), the Participation subscale of the ICF Measure of Participation and Activities Screener (IMPACT-SP), the Participation Scale, and the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (USER-Participation). Responsiveness was analysed using the effect size and the standardized response mean.


RESULTS
Comparing scores at t1 and t2, the standardized response mean was 0.54 for the USER-Participation Restriction scale, 0.41 for the FAI, 0.40 for the IMPACT-SP, 0.39 for the USER-Participation Satisfaction scale, -0.36 for the Participation Scale, and 0.21 for the USER-Participation Frequency scale. Effect size values were generally somewhat smaller than standardized response mean values. Effect size and standardized response mean values were negligible between t2 and t3. Responsiveness parameters varied between diagnostic groups, with participants with acquired brain injury showing the largest change and participants with neuro-muscular disease or chronic pain showing least change.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall and across the different diagnostic groups, the USER-Participation Restriction scale showed the best responsiveness.
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience and Center of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht and Rehabilitation Center De Hoogstraat, Utrecht.
Carlijn H
CH
van der Zee
Albert
A
Kap
Radha
R
Rambaran Mishre
Evert J
EJ
Schouten
Marcel W M
MW
Post
D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009426:Netherlands; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010045:Outpatients; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D058992:Social Participation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires