The Occupational Self Assessment: Stability and the Ability to Detect Change Over Time

OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health

AOTF: The American Occupational Therapy Foundation

Interventions, Effects, and Outcomes in Occupational Therapy: Adults and Older Adults

Feature Article
The Occupational Self Assessment: Stability and the Ability to Detect Change Over Time

OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health
Vol. 30, No. 1 Winter 2010

By Gary Kielhofner, DrPH, OTR/L, FAOTA; Lidia Dobria; Kirsty Forsyth, PhD, OTR; Jessica Kramer, PhD, OTR/L

ABSTRACT

The Occupational Self Assessment (OSA) was designed to guide collaborative treatment planning and measure client-reported change to document therapy outcomes. This study examined the stability of the OSA and its ability to detect changes in reported Competence and Values. The OSA was administered twice to 112 participants with disabilities 58 to 650 days apart. A Rasch rating scale model was used to analyze the data and determine the stability. Competence and Values items were stable over time. The Competence rating scale was used by participants in the same manner at both administrations. However, the Values rating scale was used differently at time 2; participants were less likely to use the Values rating scale category “More important” at time 2. Thirty-two percent and 49% of participants had significantly different measures at time 2 on Competence and Values scales, respectively. This study lends support for the use of the OSA as a client-reported outcome measure.

AUTHORS

Gary Kielhofner, DrPH, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, and Lidia Dobria is PhD Student in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Kirsty Forsyth, PhD, OTR, is Senior Lecturer, Department of Occupational Therapy, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Jessica Kramer, PhD, OTR/L, is Postdoctoral Fellow, Health and Disability Research Institute, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.

Originally submitted April 22, 2008. Accepted for publication October 2, 2008. Posted online January 25, 2009.

Address correspondence to Jessica Kramer at kramerj@bu.edu.

doi: 10.3928/15394492-20091214-03

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