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Associations between a functional independence measure (WeeFIM) and the pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL4.0) in young children with physical disabilities

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Abstract

Objectives: To determine the association between functional status, measured by the WeeFIM and health-related quality of life (HRQL), measured by the PedsQL4.0 for children with physical disabilities. To explore child, parent and service-related factors associated with each of these measures. Patients: Parents of 115 children (2–5 years) with physical disabilities who were referred to occupational (OT) or physical therapy (PT). Mean age of the children was 3 years 7 months (±10 months), 79 were boys and 67 were diagnosed with global developmental delay. Results: Children had more difficulties with self-care tasks and cognitive abilities, as compared to mobility activities on the WeeFIM. The correlation between total WeeFIM and total PedsQL4.0 was r = 0.39. WeeFIM mobility and self-care quotients were each fairly correlated with PedsQL-Physical Health Summary Score (r s = 0.29 and r s = 0.28 respectively). There was no significant association between WeeFIM cognition quotient and each of PedsQL scores (r s = 0.03–0.05). The receipt of PT services was highly associated (p<0.001) with lower scores on the PedsQL-Physical Health Summary score, PedsQL-Total score, and WeeFIM mobility quotient. Conclusion: The WeeFIM and the PedsQL4.0 appear to assess related but different constructs, supporting the need to incorporate complementary measures when measuring general health of children with disabilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Montréal, École de réadaptation, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Lisa Grilli, Debbie Ehrmann Feldman, Melanie Couture, Laurent Azoulay & Bonnie Swaine

  2. Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation (CRIR), Montréal, QC, Canada

    Lisa Grilli, Debbie Ehrmann Feldman & Bonnie Swaine

  3. Physiotherapy Department, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal Children’s Hospital, 2300 Tupper, Montreal, QC, H3H 1P3, Canada

    Lisa Grilli, Debbie Ehrmann Feldman & Annette Majnemer

  4. Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en santé (GRIS), Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Debbie Ehrmann Feldman

  5. School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Annette Majnemer

  6. Centre de recherche Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Melanie Couture & Laurent Azoulay

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  1. Lisa Grilli
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Correspondence to Lisa Grilli.

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Grilli, L., Feldman, D.E., Majnemer, A. et al. Associations between a functional independence measure (WeeFIM) and the pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL4.0) in young children with physical disabilities. Qual Life Res 15, 1023–1031 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-0041-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-0041-9

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