From “Wheelchair Circuit” to “Wheelchair Assessment Instrument for People With Multiple Sclerosis”: Reliability and Validity Analysis of a Test to Assess Driving Skills in Manual Wheelchair Users With Multiple Sclerosis

IntroductionApproximately 80% of people with spinal cord injury experience clinically significant chronic pain. Pain (whether musculoskeletal or neuropathic) is consistently rated as one of the most difficult problems to manage and negatively affects the individual’s physical, psychological and social functioning and increases the risk of pain medication misuse and poor mental health. The aim of this study is to therefore determine the presence of pain and its impact on functioning and disability as well as to develop a framework for self-management of pain for South African manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury.Methods and analysisCommunity-dwelling participants with spinal cord injury will be invited to participate in this three-phase study. Phase 1 will use a quantitative, correlational design to determine factors related to pain such as pectoralis minor length, scapular dyskinesis, wheelchair functioning, physical quality of life, community reintegration and pain medication misuse. Demographic determinants of pain such as age, gender, type of occupation, completeness of injury and neurological level of injury will also be investigated. Participants with pain identified in phase 1 will be invited to partake in a qualitative descriptive and contextually designed phase 2 to explore their lived experience of pain through in-depth interviews. The results of phases 1 and 2 will then be used with the assistance from experts to develop a framework for self-management of pain using a modified Delphi study. Data analysis will include descriptive and inferential statistics (quantitative data) and thematic content analysis (qualitative data).Ethics and disseminationApproval for this study is granted by the Faculty of Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee of the University of the Pretoria (approval number 125/2018). This study is registered with the South African National Health Research Database (reference GP201806005). This study’s findings will be shared in academic conferences and published in scientific peer-reviewed journals.

Download Full-text

Assessment of Memory in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Using the Memory Assessment Scale

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1998.86.3.987 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 86 (3) ◽

pp. 987-998 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Naomi D. Ling ◽

Michael J. Selby

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Memory Function ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Assessment Scale ◽

Validity Data ◽

Nonverbal Memory ◽

Memory Assessment ◽

Relapsing Remitting ◽

Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Previous assessment of memory function In multiple sclerosis patients has yielded mixed findings regarding the type and severity of memory deficits, which may be due to (1) differential selection of scales for memory assessment; (2) limited, inconsistent or weak reliability and validity data for the memory scales employed; (3) poor standardization techniques; (4) lack of theoretical foundation for the measure; and (5) limited control of confounding variables, e.g., education, age and the use of nonverbal memory tests. The purpose of the present study was to assess memory function in multiple sclerosis subjects using the verbal subtests of the Memory Assessment Scale, a relatively new measure designed to overcome many of the aforementioned problems. Participants included 57 patients diagnosed as relapsing-remitting, 47 diagnosed as chronic progressive (two generally recognized types of multiple sclerosis), and 132 contra) participants. A multivariate analysis controlling for age and verbal IQ was significant (Wilks = 5.64, p<.001). One way follow-up tests showed both groups with multiple sclerosis had significantly diminished performance across all memory variables when compared with controls, with the exception of List Clustering Acquisition. This indicated that the patients used clustering (mentally grouping similar words together) as often as controls did. These findings provide support for the presence of significant and consistent verbal memory impairment in multiple sclerosis patients and the particular importance of using psychometrically sound measures in the assessment of this population.

Download Full-text

Effect of service dogs on manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury: A pilot study

The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development ◽

10.1682/jrrd.2011.07.0124 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 50 (3) ◽

pp. 341 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Geoffroy Hubert ◽

Michel Tousignant ◽

Fran�ois Routhier ◽

H�l�ne Corriveau ◽

No�l Champagne

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Service Dogs ◽

Wheelchair Users ◽

Manual Wheelchair ◽

Cord Injury

Download Full-text

Psychometric Evaluation of the Perceived Stress Scale in Multiple Sclerosis

ISRN Rehabilitation ◽

10.1155/2013/608356 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Salene M. Wu ◽

Dagmar Amtmann

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Factor Model ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

General Factor ◽

Perceived Stress Scale ◽

Stress Scale ◽

Two Factors ◽

Mental And Physical Health

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive disease characterized by neurological symptoms and sometimes heightened levels of distress. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is often used in MS samples to measure stress but has not been validated in this population. Participants (n=446) completed the PSS as well as measure of depression, anxiety, and mental and physical health. Factor analyses indicated that the general factor of a bifactor model accounted for a large amount of the variance in the 14-item and 10-item versions of the PSS. The 4-item PSS had two factors, the Stress subscale and the Coping subscale, but a one-factor model also fits the data well. Total scores and both subscales had sufficient reliability and validity for all versions of the PSS, although a few items of the 14-item PSS had low item-total correlations. This study supports the use of the total score of the PSS in MS but also suggests that the 10-item PSS had better psychometric properties than the 14-item PSS.

Download Full-text