Article

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reproducibility of the Stroke Specific Quality of Life
(SS-QOL) items that address the participation component of the International
Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and analyse the
correlation between the subscore of these 26 items and the total SS-QOL score.
METHODS: Seventy-five stroke survivors participated in this study.
Reproducibility was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient
(ICC2,1), standard error of measurement (SEM), minimum detectable change (MDC)
and the Bland-Altman plot. The correlation between the subscore of the 26 items
and the total SS-QOL score was analysed using Spearman's correlation coefficients
(rho) and simple linear regression. An alpha risk </= 0.05 was considered for all
analyses. RESULTS: The SS-QOL items that address the participation component of
the ICF demonstrated excellent reliability (intra-rater ICC2,1 = 0.96;
inter-rater ICC2,1 = 0.95). The SEM and MDC were adequate. The Bland-Altman plot
demonstrated satisfactory agreement. A significant and strong correlation (rho =
0.83) was found between the 26 SS-QOL items that address participation and the
total SS-QOL score. Moreover, the evaluation of participation was found to
explain 73% of the evaluation of health-related quality of life. CONCLUSION: The
26 SS-QOL items that address the participation component of the ICF demonstrated
adequate reproducibility. Thus, participation, which represents the social
aspects of functionality, can be adequately evaluated with these items.
Implications for Rehabilitation The 26 Stroke Specific Quality of Life items that
address participation proved to be reproducible for the analysis of social
participation following a stroke. The findings can lead to a better understanding
of the social participation of individuals with chronic hemiparesis and assist in
the establishment of adequate treatment for such individuals. The rehabilitation
process can be directed towards more specific goals focused on the patient
expectations, thereby contributing to greater humanization and effectiveness of treatment to improve social participation following a stroke.

Langue : ANGLAIS