title: Participation as an Outcome in Multiple Sclerosis Falls-Prevention Research: Consensus Recommendation from the International MS Falls Prevention Research Network.
abstract: Selecting the outcomes for an intervention trial is a key decision that influences many other aspects of the study design. One of the major tasks during the 3-day inaugural meeting of the International MS Falls Prevention Research Network was to identify the key outcomes for the falls-prevention intervention that was being designed by the Network members for testing across their multiple sites. Through a nominal group process, meeting participants described how engagement in important, meaningful everyday activities, beyond traditional basic and instrumental activities of daily living, should be a long-term outcome of a successful falls-prevention intervention for people with MS. Post-meeting work, which involved literature reviews and comparisons of definitions of major constructs identified during the meeting discussions, led to the consensus recommendation of including participation as a long-term outcome in MS falls-prevention interventions. Participation reflects involvement in a life situation. This article explains the rationale for this recommendation and presents four measures that have the potential for use in tracking long-term participation outcomes in MS falls-prevention research.
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada (MF); Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA (EP); and Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA (PNM).
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Finlayson
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada (MF); Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA (EP); and Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA (PNM).
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada (MF); Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA (EP); and Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA (PNM).
authors.forename: Patricia N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Matsuda