The use of standardized outcome measures in rehabilitation centres in the UK

To ascertain which standardized instruments are currently most commonly used as outcome measures for rehabilitation in routine clinical practice in the UK.

The study used a postal questionnaire which was sent out to members of two major societies of rehabilitation professionals in the UK.

Of 182 rehabilitation centres represented by respondents, 140 (77%) collected at least one standardized measure and 42 did not. Principal reasons for not recording measures were lack of time and not knowing what to collect. As had been anticipated, a very wide range of different measures were used by different centres, however some clear favourites emerged including the 10 m Walk, the Motricity Index and the Nine-hole Peg Test. One hundred and twenty-three centres used one or more global disability measure of which the commonest were the Barthel index or one of its modifications and the functional Independence Measure (FIM) and/or Functional Assessment Method (FAM). Among units that used handicap or extended activities of daily living (EADL) scales, the Nottingham EADL, the London Handicap Scale and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-22 or 12) were most popular. Outside neurorehabilitation, the Harold Wood/Stanmore mobility grades were used by 10/18 amputee rehabilitation centres and the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was used by 15/48 units providing musculoskeletal rehabilitation.

It is clear that no one measure is suitable in all settings and services, but the most popular measures from this survey may reasonably form the basis for a 'basket of recommended instruments' that may help to guide units wishing to collect outcome data but not knowing which to choose.