BACKGROUND Economic evaluations of healthcare interventions increasingly measure outcomes using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The SF-6D and the EQ-5D are alternative ways of generating utility scores for use in QALY estimations, but it is unclear which is most sensitive to change in psychiatric symptom severity. There are also limited data on the sensitivity of these measures to changes ...

OBJECTIVE The goal was to create a functional status outcome measure for large outcome studies that is well defined, quantitative, rapid, reliable, minimally dependent on subjective assessments, and applicable to hospitalized pediatric patients across a wide range of ages and inpatient environments. METHODS Functional Status Scale (FSS) domains of functioning included mental status, sensory f...

OBJECTIVES To describe the teaching programme of Therapeutic Assessment (TA), a brief intervention at the point of initial assessment for adolescents with self-harm; to describe trainees' preferences and choices regarding their use of specific aspects of TA. DESIGN This is a comparative study investigating the differences in the TA skills before and after training. This design was chosen to e...

This review examines key articles in evaluation of community-based rehabilitation carried out in developing countries and proposes family quality of life as an outcome measure of community-based rehabilitation. The concept of community-based rehabilitation is reviewed, quality of life and family quality of life measurement scale is presented. It presents a practical approach to future evaluatio...

INTRODUCTION Healthcare organisations serve clients from diverse Indigenous and other ethnic and racial groups on a daily basis, and require appropriate client-centred systems and services for provision of optimal healthcare. Despite advocacy for systems-level approaches to cultural competence, the primary focus in the literature remains on competency strategies aimed at health promotion initia...

It is important to identify unknown and unquantified benefits and risks of therapeutic intervention that are reflected in the quality of life. This is especially important when the benefit : risk analysis is not clearly in favour of treatment. Quality of life is defined and target areas identified. The steps in the measurements of quality of life are discussed, including the validity, repeatabi...

Background: Social engagement is key to health and quality of life. Little is known about social engagement patterns of middle-aged and older adults who live with one or more chronic illnesses. This study investigated social engagement restrictions among middle-aged and older adults with chronic conditions and factors associated with these restrictions. Methods: Cross-sectional representative d...

The main focus of leprosy control has been case detection and treatment delivery with relative neglect of prevention of disability. Absence of reliable data and lack of research have added to the problem. This raised concerns about the capacity of the general health system to address the needs of people living with leprosy-related disabilities. In this prospective study appropriate services for...

OBJECTIVE To describe development of mobility and self-care capabilities in young children (aged 1-4 years) with cerebral palsy, and to examine whether the development of mobility and self-care capabilities differs by cerebral palsy severity in terms of 5 distinct Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels. STUDY DESIGN This prospective longitudinal cohort study included 100 ch...