Psychometric properties of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in home-dwelling older adults.
BACKGROUND
The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) is an occupational therapy instrument designed to help participants identify, prioritize, and evaluate performance of important occupations.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the validity, responsiveness, interpretability, and feasibility of the COPM when used by various health professions in home-dwelling older adults receiving reablement. Reablement is a new form of multidisciplinary home-based rehabilitation for older adults experiencing functional decline.


METHODS
The sample of 225 participants, mean age 80.8 years, who were in need of rehabilitation for various health conditions were included in the study. Data collection was conducted at baseline and at 10 weeks follow-up. The COSMIN guidelines and recommendations for evaluating methodological quality were followed.


RESULTS
Content validity, construct validity, and feasibility were found to be adequate. Responsiveness, however, was moderate. Functional mobility was the most frequently prioritized occupational category of all. Regarding interpretability, the minimal important change was 3.0 points and 3.2 points for performance and satisfaction, respectively. The older adults reported that COPM was a useful and manageable instrument. The majority of the occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and nurses reported that they had the required expertise to conduct the COPM assessments.


CONCLUSIONS
The results support the multidisciplinary use of the COPM in clinical practice and research in a home-dwelling, heterogeneous population of older adults. Based on the findings, 3 points are recommended as a cutoff point to distinguish between older adults who have a minimal important change in COPM performance and COPM satisfaction and those who have not.
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Centre for Care Research Western Norway, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway.
Hanne
H
Tuntland
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Mona Kristin
MK
Aaslund
Centre for Care Research Western Norway, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway.
Eva
E
Langeland
Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway.
Birgitte
B
Espehaug
National Advisory Unit on Rehabilitation in Rheumatology, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Occupational Therapy, Prosthetics and Orthotics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
Ingvild
I
Kjeken
COPM; health services for the aged; multidisciplinarity; reablement; rehabilitation; validity