Measuring participation as defined by the World Health Organization in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Psychometric properties of the Ghent Participation Scale.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, discriminant validity and responsiveness of the Ghent Participation Scale.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study with a test-retest sample.


METHODS
Six outpatient rehabilitation centres in Belgium.


METHODS
A total of 365 outpatients from eight diagnostic groups.


METHODS
The Ghent Participation Scale, the Impact on Participation and Autonomy, the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation and the Medical outcome study Short Form SF-36.


RESULTS
The Ghent Participation Scale was found to have good internal consistency (Cronbach's α between 0.75 and 0.83). At item level, the test-retest reliability was good; weighted kappas ranged between 0.57 and 0.88. On the dimension level intraclass correlation coefficients ranged between 0.80 and 0.90. Evidence for construct validity came from high correlations between the subscales of the Ghent Participation Scale and four subscales of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy (range, r = -0.71 to -0.87) and two subscales of the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (range, r = 0.54 to 0.72). Standardized response mean ranged between 0.23 and 0.68 and the area under the curve ranged between 68% and 88%.


CONCLUSIONS
The Ghent Participation Scale appears to be a valid and reliable method of assessing participation irrespective of the respondent's health condition. The Ghent Participation Scale is responsive and is able to detect changes over time.
1 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Dominique
D
Van de Velde
2 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Public Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Pascal
P
Coorevits
3 Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
Lode
L
Sabbe
1 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Stijn
S
De Baets
4 Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Piet
P
Bracke
5 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Special Needs Education, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Geert
G
Van Hove
6 Division of Occupational Therapy, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Staffan
S
Josephsson
7 National Multiple Sclerosis Centre Melsbroek, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Stephan
S
Ilsbroukx
1 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.|3 Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
Guy
G
Vanderstraeten
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001530:Belgium; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D064702:International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D010045:Outpatients; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011594:Psychometrics; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D058992:Social Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D014944:World Health Organization
Disability and Health; International Classification of Functioning; measure; participation; reliability; validity