Reply To: Outcome measures used in assessment

[Laura Tymas]

Thanks for your response Andree. I have been asking at the International Seating Symposium in 2017 and 2019 about this and have found little information. I really like the data the FMA captures. However, I am currently looking into the licensing. It is $2000 per year with the requirement that 5 follow up phone calls are made by the clinician. US Rehab has the rights, then they scrub the data and send it to Univ of Pittsburgh for anyalysis. If the licensee does not want to make the follow up calls, the cost is $5000 for US Rehab to make the calls. We are under really intense productivity standards in my clinic and I don’t have time to make these calls, nor do I think I should have to pay them to carry out their research.
The other outcome tools I like are the WUSPI (Wheelchairs Users Pain Index), and the Groningen Activity Rating Scale (which asks about ADL function, but has questions about walking, not wheelchair use). I also use the Timed Up and Go on almost all patients who can walk a little and 6 minute walk for patients who I feel are more on the margins of qualification. For MS patients, I use the 12 Item MS Walking Scale and Modified Fatigue Impact Scale.
I really wish Pitt would make the FMA available for use for free and not require clinicians to do follow up calls.
Feel free to contact me directly if you have other ideas ([email protected]). We use a lot of outcome measures in our clinic for our neurologic and geriatric patients, but this lack of outcomes for wheelchair users for qualification for a mobility device is troubling. Insurers are making it more and more difficult to justify the need for a mobility device and a wheelchair based outcome measure would be useful.