title: The association between perceived and observed ability to use everyday technology in people of working age with ABI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Everyday technology (ET), including computers and automated telephone services, is increasingly required for everyday functioning. However, people with acquired brain injury (ABI) may have difficulty with ET use. To design interventions to support ET use, further knowledge of how to assess dimensions of such use is needed.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study investigated the relationship between the perceived difficulty of ET use (self-reported using the short version of the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire, S-ETUQ) and observed ability to use ET (observed using the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment, META) in a sample of people with ABI (n = 81). Data were analysed using a Rasch measurement model, and person measures of perceived difficulty and observed ability to use ET were identified and correlated. Results and conclusions. The person measures had a correlation of 0.49 (p < 0.001). In groups of different severity levels after ABI, significant associations were found in the moderate (0.36) and severe (0.47) disability groups. In the good recovery group, only a non-significant correlation was found (0.21). This indicates that the S-ETUQ and the META measure different but complementary dimensions of ET use. Hence, the assessments are proposed to be used together in clinical practice to more fully understand the ability of people with ABI to use ET.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy Luleå, Luleå University of Technology , Sweden.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malinowsky
authors.forename: Maria Larsson
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lund
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D040421:Cell Phone; D003201:Computers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods; D057566:Self Report; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ADL; IADL; assessment