Progress achieved due to intervention is a critical factor the Insurer considers when determining whether further treatment is reasonable to fund. The use of outcome measures assists in objectively assessing whether a person is making measurable and durable progress. Outcome measure/s chosen should be valid, reliable, sensitive and relevant to your client’s goals.
The following are examples of outcome measures that you may consider using:
The Neck Disability Index (NDI)
The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is designed to give information as to how neck pain has affected a person’s ability to manage everyday life. The result can be expressed as a percentage or as a raw score (out of 50).NDI developed by: Vernon, H & Mior, S. (1991). The Neck Disability Index: A study of reliability and validity. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 1991; 14: 409-415.
The Patient Specific Functional Scale
The Patient Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) asks the patient to specify three important activities they are unable to do or have difficulty with as a result of their condition. They are required to rate their ability to perform each activity on a scale of 0-10.Startford P., Gill, C., Westaway, M.,& Binkley, J. (1995). Assessing disability and change on individual patients: a report of a specific measure. Physiotherapy Canada, 47, 258-263.
Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (ODQ)
The Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (ODQ) has been designed to assess pain-related disability in persons with low back pain.* Free access is limited to clinical practice and non-funded academic research. For funded or commercial research please access the user agreement at http://www.proqolid.org/
Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire (Short) (ÖMPSQ)
The Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire (ÖMPSQ) is designed to estimate risk of future work disability. The short version of the ÖMPSQ includes 10 items selected from the full version. The total score will range between 1 and 100 with a score >50 indicating higher estimated risk for future work disability.Linton, S. J., Nicholas, M., MacDonald, S. (2011). Development of a Short Form of the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire.Spine, 36,1891–1895.doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181f8f775
Impact of Event Scale (IES-R)
The Impact of Event Scale (IES-R) is designed to measure an individual's subjective response to a specific traumatic event. The IES-R contains three subscales: intrusion, avoidance and hyperarousal. Mean scores for each subscale are used to evaluate an individual’s symptomatic status with higher scores indicating greater distress.Weiss, D.S. 2007. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised. In J.P. Wilson, & T.M. Keane (Eds) Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD: a practitioner's handbook (2nd ed., pp. 168-189). New York: Guilford Press.