Utilizing AMPS ability measures to predict level of community dependence

Area of Science:

• Occupational therapy
• Rehabilitation science
• Functional assessment

Background:

• Determining community dependence levels is crucial for effective occupational therapy interventions.
• Existing methods for assessing functional abilities and community living needs require robust validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) ability measures in assessing community dependence.
• To establish new cutoff measures using AMPS data for classifying levels of assistance needed for community living.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a large dataset (n=64,466) from the AMPS International Project database, including adults globally with diverse diagnoses.
• Employed Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to assess the discriminative power of AMPS motor and process ability measures.
• Proposed new AMPS logit cutoff scores for demarcating maximal assistance levels.

Main Results:

• AMPS motor and process ability measures demonstrated fair (ROC AUC=0.74) to good (ROC AUC=0.82) discrimination for identifying the need for moderate to maximal assistance.
• New cutoff measures were established: 1.00 logit for motor ability (sensitivity=0.70, specificity=0.66) and 0.70 logit for process ability (sensitivity=0.79, specificity=0.69).
• Highest accuracy was achieved when motor and process ability assessments aligned, particularly in a subset of 30,835 participants.

Conclusions:

• AMPS ability measures serve as valid evidence for determining an individual's level of community dependence.
• The study introduces novel, evidence-based AMPS cutoff measures for classifying community independence and the need for maximal assistance.
• These findings provide clinicians with refined tools for making informed decisions regarding client support and community integration.