Article

OBJECTIVE: To explore construct(s) (ability, capability, actual performance,
and/or perceived difficulty) of activities of daily living measures that have
been used in randomized controlled trials. METHODS: Three databases (Medline,
CINAHL, and OTSeeker) were searched. A questionnaire was sent to the author of
each eligible study requesting information about the activities of daily living
construct(s) that were adopted in his/her study. RESULTS: A total of 106 studies,
which altogether used 17 different activities of daily living measures, were
found. Among these, only 12 studies specified in the paper the activities of
daily living construct assessed; 7 studies assessed "ability" and 5 assessed
"actual performance". Only 20% of the randomized controlled trials authors
reported the mode of administration in the paper. Authors of 34 studies replied
to our questionnaire. The most commonly used activities of daily living measures
(i.e. the Barthel Index (either the 0-20 or 0-100 scoring version) and the
Functional Independence Measure) were employed for assessing various constructs
of activities of daily living, with inconsistency between the studies.
CONCLUSION: In stroke randomized controlled trials that measured activities of
daily living as an outcome, the measures were used for assessing various
construct(s) of activities of daily living (including ability, capability, actual
performance, and/or perceived difficulty). This could hamper data interpretation,
meta-analysis, and the translation of evidence into clinical practice.

Langue : ANGLAIS