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A seven item scale for the assessment of disabilities after child and adolescent injuries
Insights
A new scale effectively assesses physical disabilities in children and adolescents following injuries. This simple, valid tool aids in understanding injury impact across diverse populations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric injury research
- Rehabilitation medicine
- Disability assessment
Background:
- Child and adolescent injuries represent a significant public health concern.
- Accurate assessment of physical disabilities is crucial for effective rehabilitation and long-term outcomes.
- Existing assessment tools may not adequately capture the functional impact of injuries in pediatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a scale for assessing physical disabilities in children and adolescents after injury.
- To provide a simple, reliable, and valid measure for use in clinical and research settings.
Main Methods:
- A scale was developed based on the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps.
- Telephone interviews were conducted with 281 children (aged 4-17) and their parents six months post-injury.
- The scale included seven questions on functional limitations, with construct validity assessed against daily activities.
Main Results:
- The prevalence of short-term disabilities ranged from 23.8% to 37.7%, and long-term disabilities from 0.4% to 11.8%.
- The scale demonstrated high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha > 0.90 for short-term) and good sensitivity and specificity.
- Reliability and sensitivity were lower for the long-term disability assessment.
Conclusions:
- The developed scale offers a simple, valid, and reliable method for assessing physical disabilities in pediatric injury populations.
- The scale is suitable for use across different cultures and does not require specialized personnel.
- This tool can facilitate research on injury-related disability in children and adolescents.
Objectives:
To develop a scale to assess physical disabilities after child or adolescent injuries.
Setting:
The three main hospitals of Jerusalem.
Methods:
Telephone interviews pertaining to the injury's effect on the functioning of children 4-17 years old (n = 281) were carried out six months after an injury. Disabilities were recalled by the parents for the period immediately after the injury (short term) and at the time of interview (long term). Of 25 questions derived from the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps, seven were selected: limitations in walking, running, getting up/lying down, moving in bed, going to the toilet, bathing/keeping personal hygiene, and dressing. Construct validity was tested using the usual, sport, school, and leisure time activities as the gold standard.
Results:
The prevalence of short term disabilities ranged from 23.8% to 37.7% and of long term disabilities from 0.4% to 11.8%. Cronbach's alpha was 0.91 for the short term scale and over 0.90 for the different categories of the sociodemographic variables. It decreased to 0.66 for the long term scale. Sensitivity of the short term scale ranged from 77% to 89%, but was lower for the long term scale. Specificity varied from 72% to 84% and increased to 88% to 90%, six months after the injury.
Conclusions:
This scale could be used to study disability after injury among children and adolescents in different cultures. It is a simple method that does not require expert personnel and has relatively high validity and internal reliability.