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Generic health status measures are unsuitable for measuring health status in severely disabled people

Generic health status measures are unsuitable for measuring health status in severely disabled people
Generic health status measures are unsuitable for measuring health status in severely disabled people
Objectives: To assess the perceived health status of disabled people.Design: Perceived health status was evaluated with the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and the Nottingham Health Profile as part of a needs assessment project exploring systematic differences in unmet needs for rehabilitation as perceived by disabled people, carers and professional staff.Disabled participants completed these health status questionnaires, as part of a face-to-face interview in participants’ own homes.Subjects: Ninety-two disabled people aged 16–65, recruited into the study from two disability registers. Outcome measures: The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Disability Severity Scale, Nottingham Health Profile, SF-36.Results: Ninety-six disabled people took part in this study. Four were later excluded because of overwhelming communication difficulties. Median OPCS category was 8 (interquartile range 6–9.75). The pain and physical mobility domains of the Nottingham Health Profile were not completed by 46/92 participants (50%) because many questions referred to activities that these people could not perform, particularly walking. The physical functioning domain of the SF-36 showed severe floor effects. It was not therefore possible to use these measures to test the effectiveness of services provided to disabled people, particularly in the areas of physical functioning and pain.Conclusions: There is a continued need to develop and test instruments that can measure the outcomes of rehabilitation in severely disabled populations.
0269-2155
219-228
Kersten, Paula
039a54d8-5629-47fd-ba55-5b60e7d3e7dc
Mullee, Mark.A.
fd3f91c3-5e95-4f56-8d73-260824eeb362
Smith, Jennifer.A.E.
2032eb1a-9f2f-4b23-9068-6d2059952e11
McLellan, Lindsay
95490b1d-2d1b-45f1-9634-b7f9e6fafb77
George, Steve
bdfc752b-f67e-4490-8dc0-99bfaeb046ca
Kersten, Paula
039a54d8-5629-47fd-ba55-5b60e7d3e7dc
Mullee, Mark.A.
fd3f91c3-5e95-4f56-8d73-260824eeb362
Smith, Jennifer.A.E.
2032eb1a-9f2f-4b23-9068-6d2059952e11
McLellan, Lindsay
95490b1d-2d1b-45f1-9634-b7f9e6fafb77
George, Steve
bdfc752b-f67e-4490-8dc0-99bfaeb046ca

Kersten, Paula, Mullee, Mark.A., Smith, Jennifer.A.E., McLellan, Lindsay and George, Steve (1999) Generic health status measures are unsuitable for measuring health status in severely disabled people. Clinical Rehabilitation, 13 (3), 219-228. (doi:10.1177/026921559901300306).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the perceived health status of disabled people.Design: Perceived health status was evaluated with the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and the Nottingham Health Profile as part of a needs assessment project exploring systematic differences in unmet needs for rehabilitation as perceived by disabled people, carers and professional staff.Disabled participants completed these health status questionnaires, as part of a face-to-face interview in participants’ own homes.Subjects: Ninety-two disabled people aged 16–65, recruited into the study from two disability registers. Outcome measures: The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Disability Severity Scale, Nottingham Health Profile, SF-36.Results: Ninety-six disabled people took part in this study. Four were later excluded because of overwhelming communication difficulties. Median OPCS category was 8 (interquartile range 6–9.75). The pain and physical mobility domains of the Nottingham Health Profile were not completed by 46/92 participants (50%) because many questions referred to activities that these people could not perform, particularly walking. The physical functioning domain of the SF-36 showed severe floor effects. It was not therefore possible to use these measures to test the effectiveness of services provided to disabled people, particularly in the areas of physical functioning and pain.Conclusions: There is a continued need to develop and test instruments that can measure the outcomes of rehabilitation in severely disabled populations.

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Published date: 1999

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 55335
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/55335
ISSN: 0269-2155
PURE UUID: 717f133e-f092-4238-82c3-3fb346db5b7d

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Date deposited: 05 Aug 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 10:54

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Contributors

Author: Paula Kersten
Author: Mark.A. Mullee
Author: Jennifer.A.E. Smith
Author: Lindsay McLellan
Author: Steve George

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