title: Perceived difficulty in the use of everyday technology: relationships with everyday functioning in people with acquired brain injury with a special focus on returning to work.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to explore the relationships between difficulties in the use of everyday technology (ET) and the ability to perform activities of daily life (ADL) in the home and in society and in the workplace in people with acquired brain injury (ABI).
  
  
  METHODS
  The investigation comprises an explorative cross-sectional study of 74 people with ABI. The short version of the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (S-ETUQ) and a revised version of the ADL taxonomy were used to evaluate the participants. Rasch-generated person ability measures of ET use and ADL were used in correlation analyses, in group comparisons by ANOVA and in logistic regressions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Difficulty in the use of ET was significantly correlated with ADL limitations. People who worked full- or part-time had significantly higher ability to use ET than those with some type of full-time, long-term sickness compensation. The ability to use ET, ADL ability and age were significantly related to return to work.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ability to use ET is related to all areas of everyday functioning in people with ABI. Therefore, a patient's ability to use ET needs to be considered in rehabilitation strategies following an ABI to enhance the patient's performance of activities in the home and in society and to support his or her likelihood of returning to work.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Division of Occupational Therapy, Luleå University of Technology , Luleå , Sweden and.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Larsson Lund
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nygård
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kottorp
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D020208:Brain Injury, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013672:Technology
keywords: Activities of daily living; assistive technology; brain injury; occupational therapy; technology; work