Measuring participation in children with disabilities using the Assessment of Life Habits

Abstract

The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine the psychometric properties of the Assessment of Life Habits (LIFE-H) for children; and (2) to draw a profile of the level of participation among children of 5 to 13 years of age with various impairments. The research team adapted the adult version of the LIFE-H in order to render it more appropriate for the daily life experiences of children. Content validity was verified by an expert panel of 29 people, made up of parents, paediatric clinicians, and researchers. Reliability and construct validity of the LIFE-H for children (interview-administered form) was tested during an experiment that comprised three sessions of interviews with a group of 94 parents of children with disabilities (36 males, 58 females; mean age 8y 10mo [SD 2y 6 mo]; diagnostic groups: cerebral palsy, myelomeningocoele, sensory-motor neuropathy, traumatic brain injury, and developmental delay). Overall, the LIFE-H showed high intrarater reliability with intraclass correlation coefficient values of 0.78 or higher for 10 out of 11 categories. The correlations between the LIFE-H and the tools used in pediatric rehabilitation varied, and categories with similar constructs generally led to higher correlations. The psychometric properties of the LIFE-H are appropriate and its content allows a complete description of participation among children with disabilities.