Assessment of Patient Participation in Physical Rehabilitation Activities: an Integrative Review

PurposeIn addition to the amount and intensity of rehabilitation interventions and the number of therapies, the degree of patient participation in physical rehabilitation activities is key. For this reason, adequate information regarding participation is necessary to evaluate patient performance. This article reviews instruments designed to assess participation in physical rehabilitation activities.DesignIntegrative review.MethodsPubmed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Embase, and Cochrane Library database were searched for publications between January 1976 and July 2012. Secondary searches were also conducted and reference lists scanned for relevant publications.FindingsFourteen articles reporting on three instruments were found. They differ with regard to their underlying theoretical concepts. Each instrument was tested in medical inpatient rehabilitation settings.Conclusions/Clinical RelevanceEach instrument appears to be useful for assessing specific aspects of patient participation in rehabilitation activities. More theoretical work is needed to clarify the underlying concepts as these instruments are not yet ready for clinical application.