The Complete Guide to Back Rehabilitation by Christopher M. Norris

Author:Christopher M. Norris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472916716
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2015-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

DEFINE OUTCOME MEASURES

An outcome measure is really a standard against which rehabilitation can be measured. How do we know that the rehab programme we have given a client has been effective? We certainly need to measure something before and after the programme to track improvement and may even choose to measure during the programme. An example of an outcome measure could be the number of painkillers that a client is taking; if these reduce it would indicate that pain is lessening. It could be walking distance with a knee injury, or lifting capacity with a back injury. The key is that the outcome measure has to be relevant to the client. It is no good saying that pain has reduced and discharging the client if the client’s main concern was numbness in their leg. For this reason we normally use a Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM). These are usually standard hospital forms which measure changes in mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain and anxiety.

To really be specific to what is important to your client you may choose to let them define what they want measured and then get them to measure it. One of the standard hospital tests to do this is called Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile (or MYMOP, see Patterson 1996). This questionnaire asks your client to define two symptoms which affect them most, and one activity which is important to them. It also asks them to rate their general feeling of wellbeing during the preceding week. The MYMOP form is available as a free download from this site: http://sites.pcmd.ac.uk/mymop/files/MYMOP_questionnaire_initial_form.pdf.

You may feel that you do not need to be this specific if say you are working with a personal training client. However, it is important to measure and record outcomes so you can review your work in the future. In addition, as part of good recordkeeping the outcome you achieve should be recorded on your client’s records together with full details of the contents of the rehabilitation programme.

General health outcome questionnaires can be used before and after treatment, and typical examples include the Roland and Morris disability questionnaire, which is used regularly in hospitals and research studies. This is available to download at http://www.rmdq.org.

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