Feasibility of Using Q-Sort to Map Conditional Participation in Physical Activity in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Participation in physical activity among adolescents with autism is often conditional. However, there is a lack of methods for identifying these specific conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and investigate the feasibility of a Q-sort tool to map individual-specific conditions for participation in physical activity among adolescents with autism and to identify different viewpoints regarding conditions for such participation. METHOD: An exploratory mixed-methods design was employed to investigate the feasibility of using Q methodology and the Q-sort procedure to identify what individual-specific conditions are important for participation in physical activity for adolescents with autism. RESULTS: The adolescents ranked the statements with varying levels of ease. Two viewpoints were identified: Autonomous participation without surprises and Enjoyment of activity in a safe social context. CONCLUSION: Q-sort is a feasible method for mapping conditions for participation, which can guide the development of tailored physical activity interventions.

Family support and quality of community mental health care: Perspectives from families living with mental illness.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: Describe patients' and family members' perceptions of family support from nurses and other mental healthcare professionals, and quality of care in community mental healthcare service. Further, compare the perceptions of patients and family members. BACKGROUND: While patients value family involvement, family members feel unprepared and lack the necessary skills to be supportive. Since healthcare professionals predominantly focus on patients, they may fail to understand the complex needs of families. Family perceived support and quality of community mental health care may vary across patients and family members. DESIGN AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study with patients suffering from mental illness and family members in community mental healthcare services in Norway. Altogether 86 participants, of whom 33 patients and 33 family members had a family relationship-paired samples. Participants filled in the translated version of the Iceland Family Perceived Support Questionnaire (FPSQ-N) and Quality in Psychiatric Care-Community Out-Patient (QPC-COP) and Community Out-Patient Next of Kin (QPC-COPNK). STROBE checklist was used. RESULTS: Family members scored family perceived support and quality of community mental health care lower than patients. Family members feel the loss of support. Patient and family members found the Patient-healthcare professionals' relationship to be of high quality, while family members gave low score to being respected and invited to take part in care by nurses and other mental healthcare professionals. CONCLUSION: Family members' unmet need of support highlights the need for nurses and other community mental healthcare professionals to assess complex family needs and to intervene. Barriers to collaboration exist, and family members need to be respected and invited into community mental health care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Contributes knowledge of how to meet the family's needs and provides a basis for further care and treatment development in similar contexts nationally and internationally.

Spanish adaptation of the quality in psychiatric care-outpatient (QPC-OP) instrument community mental health patients' version: psychometric properties and factor structure.

BACKGROUND: Health systems in the field of mental health are strongly committed to community models that allow patients to be attended in their own environment. This helps them to maintain their family and social ties while trying to avoid costly hospital admissions. The patients' perspective is a key component in the assessment of the quality of psychiatric care and can even determine their adherence to the devices where they are treated. However, there are few instruments with adequate psychometric properties for the evaluation of the quality of psychiatric care in community mental health. The Quality in Psychiatric Care - Outpatient (QPC-OP) instrument has adequate psychometric properties to assess the quality of psychiatric care from the patients' perspective. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Spanish version of the QPC-OP instrument. METHODS: A translation and back-translation of the instrument was carried out. To examine its psychometric properties, the instrument was administered to 200 patients attending various community mental health services. To assess test-retest reliability, the instrument was readministered after 7-14 days (n = 98). RESULTS: The Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed a structure of 8 factors identical to the original version, with an adequate model fit. The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.951. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.764 (95% IC: 0.649 - 0.842), and higher than 0.70 in 5 of the 8 factors. Additionally, an EFA was performed and revealed that the instrument could behave in a unifactorial or four factor manner in the sample analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that the Spanish version of the QPC-OP instrument is valid and reliable for the assessment of quality of psychiatric care in the community setting.

Psychometric Properties of the Verbal and Social Interaction Questionnaire for Psychiatric Outpatient Care (VSI-OP), Staff and Patient Versions.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Verbal and Social Interaction questionnaire for psychiatric outpatient care (VSI-OP) by using a confirmatory factor analysis. A further aim is to present the patient and staff perceptions of the frequency of these interactions in this context. The factor structure of the VSI-OP could be explained by three factors for both the staff and the patient versions. The three factors are: 'Inviting the patient to establish a relationship', 'Showing interest in the patients' feelings, experiences and behaviour' and 'Helping the patients to establish structure and routines in their everyday life'. The two first factors were the most frequently occurring actions according to the staff and the patients.

Navigating change - managers' experience of implementation processes in disability health care: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Effective implementation processes play a central role in health care organizations and affect the care of patients. Managers are pivotal in facilitating the use of new practices, but their experience and how it affects the implementation outcome are still largely unknown. In the field of disability health care in particular, managers experiences have scarcely been investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore managers' experiences of the implementation process when transferring new practices into disability health care settings. METHODS: Semi-structured individual telephone interviews were conducted with managers at disability health care organizations in four administrative regions in central Sweden. A total of 23 managers with formal managerial responsibility from both public and private health care were strategically selected to be interviewed. The interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis with an inductive approach. RESULTS: The analysis resulted in two themes about factors influencing the implementation process: firstly, Contextual factors set the agenda for what can be achieved, which highlighted aspects that hinder or enable the implementation process, such as internal and external conditions, the workplace culture, the employees and managers' attitudes and openness to change: secondly, Leadership in the winds of change, which described the challenges of balancing managerial tasks with leading the change, and the importance of a leadership that involves the participation of the employees. CONCLUSIONS: This study explored how and to what extent managers address and manage the implementation process and the many associated challenges. The findings highlight the importance of leadership support and organizational structure in order to transfer new practices into the work setting, and to encourage an organizational culture for leading change that promotes positive outcomes. We suggest that identifying strategies by focusing on contextual factors and on aspects of leadership will facilitate implementation processes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The SWAN (Structured Water Dance Intervention) study was retrospectively registered on April 9, 2019 and is available online at ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03908801).

Evaluation of the SCL-9S, a short version of the symptom checklist-90-R, on psychiatric patients in Sweden by using Rasch analysis.

PURPOSE: This study evaluates the dimensionality and differential item functioning of SCL-9S, a short version of the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), on patients in psychiatric care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Based on the factor structure of the Swedish standardization and validation of the SCL-90-R, a nine-item index (SCL-9S) was developed consisting of the items most indicative for each of the nine subscales in SCL-90-R. Rasch analysis was used to evaluate the SCL-9S on a sample of 668 psychiatric outpatients and 167 inpatients across four Swedish regions. RESULTS: The evaluation revealed that the SCL-9S was unidimensional, the items represented different levels of severity across a general psychological distress dimension, and the scale showed equity (no differential items functioning) across gender and patient groups. CONCLUSION: The SCL-9S is a fast, structurally valid, and reliable tool for screening general psychological distress among men and women in psychiatric in- and outpatient services, and in combination with other instruments, it will be useful in epidemiological studies.

A Spanish adaptation of the Quality in Psychiatric Care-Inpatient (QPC-IP) instrument: Psychometric properties and factor structure.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Western countries share an interest in evaluating and improving quality of care in the healthcare field. The aim was to develop and examine the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Spanish version of the Quality in Psychiatric Care-Inpatient (QPC-IP) instrument. METHODS: A psychometric study was conducted, translating the QPC-IPS instrument into Spanish, revision of the instrument by a panel of experts, and assessing its psychometric properties. 150 psychiatric inpatients completed the QPC-IP. Test-retest reliability was assessed by re-administering the questionnaire to 75 of these patients. RESULTS: After conducting pilot testing and a cognitive interview with 30 inpatients, it was determined that the QPC-IPS was adequate and could be self-administered. A Cronbach's alpha of 0.94 was obtained for the full instrument and values of 0.52-0.89 for the various dimensions of the questionnaire. Test re test reliability: The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for the full questionnaire was 0.69, while for the individual dimensions values between 0.62 and 0.74 were obtained, indicating acceptable temporal stability. Convergent validity was analysed using 10-point numerical satisfaction scale, giving a positive correlation (0.49). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed six factors consistent with the original scale. The Spanish version yielded adequate results in terms of validity and reliability. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide evidence of the convergent validity, reliability, temporal stability and construct validity of the Spanish QPC-IP for measuring patient quality in psychiatric care in Spanish hospitals. Hospital administrators can use this tool to assess and identify areas for improvement to enhance quality in psychiatric care.

Factors influencing patient-perceived quality of care in psychiatric hospitals in Taiwan.

Patient-perceived quality of inpatient/outpatient psychiatric care remains under-researched. A cross-sectional survey with purposive sampling comprising 567 inpatients and 549 outpatients was conducted among eight psychiatric care facilities in Taiwan to examine the factors influencing patient-perceived care quality. Inpatients and outpatients perceived moderate quality of care, where "Encounter" was reported as the highest dimension. Inpatients perceived "Secure environment" as the lowest; outpatients rated "Discharge/Referring" as the lowest. Hospital region and customer loyalty were significantly associated with patient-perceived care quality. Other significant factors were also identified: inpatient employment, perceived mental health and treatment effects, understanding diagnosis, previous treatment, and visited by appointment.

Psychometric properties of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory for adults with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: Problem behaviours are common among people with intellectual disabilities (ID), but psychometrically evaluated instruments for assessing such behaviours are scarce. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Intellectual Disability (NPI-ID). METHOD: We assessed 108 residents with intellectual disabilities living in group-homes using the NPI-ID, which included the 12 symptoms of the original NPI-Nursing Home and two supplementary symptoms: self-injurious behaviour and impulsive risk-taking behaviour. RESULTS: The NPI-ID showed adequate internal consistency (α = 0.76) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.88). Exploratory factor analysis revealed five factors accounting for 64.1% of the variance. Cluster analysis revealed that residents were clustered in three groups with distinctly different symptom profiles. CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric properties were satisfactory, supporting the use of the NPI-ID as a screening tool for people with intellectual disabilities. Additional research is needed to further evaluate the utility of the NPI-ID among people with intellectual disabilities.

Risk Markers for Not Returning to Work Among Patients with Acquired Brain Injury: A Population-Based Register Study.

Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate person-related, injury-related, activity-related and rehabilitation-related risk markers for not return to work among patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Methods Retrospective data from the Quality register, WebRehab Sweden, on an ABI cohort of 2008 patients, was divided into two groups: those who had returned to work (n = 690) and those who had not returned to work (n = 1318) within a year of the injury. Results Risk ratio analyses showed that several factors were risk markers for not returning to work: personal factors, including being a woman, being born outside of Sweden, having a low education level, and not having children in the household; injury-related factors, including long hospital stay (over 2 months), aphasia, low motor function, low cognitive function, high pain/discomfort, and high anxiety/depression; activity-related factors, including low function in self-care, inability to perform usual activities, and not having a driver's license; and rehabilitation-related factors, including being dissatisfied with the rehabilitation process and the attentiveness of the staff having limited influence over the rehabilitation plan, or not having a rehabilitation plan at all. Conclusion Several factors in different aspects of life were risk markers for not returning to work among patients with ABI. This suggests that rehabilitation and interventions need to address not only direct injury-related issues, but also person-related, activity-related, and rehabilitation-related factors in order to increase the patient's opportunities to return to work.

Residents' Perceptions of Quality in Supported Housing for People with Psychiatric Disabilities.

The residents' perspective of the quality of housing support for people with psychiatric disabilities living in congregate supported housing has been studied and a comparison has been made with the findings from those from a previous study in ordinary housing with outreach support. One-hundred and seventy-eight residents from 27 supported housing facilities in eight Swedish municipalities completed the Quality of Psychiatric Care-Housing (QPC-H) instrument. The highest quality ratings were found for: Secluded Environment, Encounter and Support, while Participation, Housing Specific and Secure Environment were rated at lower levels. Despite relatively high ratings, a majority of items did not attain the 80% cutoff point deemed as defining satisfactory quality of service. The residents in ordinary housing with outreach support rated higher levels for the majority of the QPC-H dimensions in comparison with those in supported housing. A conclusion is that the quality of care in supported housing facilities has a number of deficiencies that need to be addressed. Supported housing is generally rated as having a lower quality of care than in ordinary housing with outreach support. Suggestions for the content of staff training are made based on the results.

Change in quality of life in relation to returning to work after acquired brain injury: a population-based register study.

PURPOSE: This study investigated changes in quality of life (QoL) in relation to return to work among patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). METHOD: The sample consisted of 1487 patients with ABI (63% men) aged 18-66 years (mean age 52) from the WebRehab Sweden national quality register database. Only patients who worked at least 50% at admission to hospital and were on full sick leave at discharge from hospital were included. QoL was measured by the EuroQol EQ-5D questionnaire. RESULTS: Patients who returned to work perceived a larger improvement in QoL from discharge to follow-up one year after injury compared to patients who had not returned to work. This difference remained after adjustment for other factors associated with improved QoL, such as having a university education, increased Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale scores and getting one's driving licence reinstated. CONCLUSION: Return to work is an important factor for change in QoL among patients with ABI, even after adjusting for other factors related to QoL. This is consistent with the hypothesis that having employment is meaningful, increases self-esteem and fosters participation in society. Thus, helping patients with ABI return to work has a positive influence on QoL.

Accelerometer-Assessed Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Youth With Disabilities.

This study compared accelerometer-assessed habitual physical activity (PA), sedentary time, and meeting PA recommendations among 102 youth with disabilities (7-20 years) in four subgroups-physical/visual impairments, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, and hearing impairment-and 800 youth with typical development (8-16 years). Low proportions of youth with disabilities met PA recommendations, and they generally were less physically active and more sedentary than youth with typical development. The hearing impairment and autism spectrum disorder groups were the most and least physically active, respectively. Older age and to some extent female sex were related to less PA and more sedentary time. Considering the suboptimal levels of PA in youth with disabilities, effective interventions directed at factors associated with PA among them are needed.

Residents' View of Quality in Ordinary Housing with Housing Support for People with Psychiatric Disabilities.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the quality of housing support provided in housing services for people with psychiatric disabilities living in ordinary housing with housing support from the residents' perspective, by using the QPC-H instrument. A sample of 174 residents in ordinary housing, receiving housing support from 22 housing support services in nine Swedish municipalities, participated in this study. The results show that the quality of psychiatric care in housing services was mainly rated highly as measured with the QPC-H instrument. The dimensions Encounter and Secluded Environment were the aspects that were rated as the two with the highest quality of housing service. The dimensions Participation and Secure Environment were rated as those with the lowest quality. There were more residents who totally disagreed with the statements in the dimensions Participation and Housing Specific than in the other dimensions. The perceived lower quality in Encounter, Participation, Support and the Housing Specific dimensions was associated with a low frequency of psychiatric outpatient clinic contacts. A conclusion is that the support staff could be more observant regarding the residents' need for support and also talk more with them about what could be done to assist them. It also seems important that the support staff discuss with the residents regarding how they can help them to feel more secure in their accommodation.

Prevalence of orofacial dysfunction in cerebral palsy and its association with gross motor function and manual ability.

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of orofacial dysfunction (OFD) and explore factors associated with OFD in young individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional study on a population with CP in a Swedish county (132 individuals, mean age 14y 2mo [SD 4y 5mo], range 5-22y) using the Nordic Orofacial Test - Screening (NOT-S), Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), and Manual Ability Classification System (MACS). The NOT-S interview was completed by 129 individuals (76 males, 53 females) of whom 52 (30 males, 22 females) also agreed to complete the NOT-S examination. RESULTS: OFD occurred in at least one NOT-S domain in about 80% of the individuals and was present in all subdiagnoses, GMFCS levels, and MACS levels. Prevalence of OFD increased with increasing levels of GMFCS and MACS from level I=55% to level V=100%. Within the 12 NOT-S domains, the prevalence of OFD varied between 19% and 69%, wherein seven of them were at least 40%: 'Drooling', 'Nose breathing', 'Chewing and swallowing', 'Face at rest', 'Oral motor function', 'Speech', and 'Facial expression' (in ascending order). INTERPRETATION: OFD is common in CP. The use of OFD screening in health service planning would assist detection of areas in need of further evaluation.

Reliability and Validity of the Visual, Musculoskeletal, and Balance Complaints Questionnaire.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the 15-item Visual, Musculoskeletal, and Balance Complaints Questionnaire (VMB) for people with visual impairments, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and with Rasch analysis for use as an outcome measure. METHODS: Two studies evaluated the VMB. In Study 1, VMB data were collected from 1249 out of 3063 individuals between 18 and 104 years old who were registered at a low vision center. CFA evaluated VMB factor structure and Rasch analysis evaluated VMB scale properties. In Study 2, a subsample of 52 individuals between 27 and 67 years old with visual impairments underwent further measurements. Visual clinical assessments, neck/scapular pain, and balance assessments were collected to evaluate the convergent validity of the VMB (i.e. the domain relationship with other, theoretically predicted measures). RESULTS: CFA supported the a priori three-factor structure of the VMB. The factor loadings of the items on their respective domains were all statistically significant. Rasch analysis indicated disordered categories and the original 10-point scale was subsequently replaced with a 5-point scale. Each VMB domain fitted the Rasch model, showing good metric properties, including unidimensionality (explained variances ≥66% and eigenvalues <1.9), person separation (1.86 to 2.29), reliability (0.87 to 0.94), item fit (infit MnSq's >0.72 and outfit MnSq's <1.47), targeting (0.30 to 0.50 logits), and insignificant differential item functioning (all DIFs but one <0.50 logits) from gender, age, and visual status. The three VMB domains correlated significantly with relevant visual, musculoskeletal, and balance assessments, demonstrating adequate convergent validity of the VMB. CONCLUSIONS: The VMB is a simple, inexpensive, and quick yet reliable and valid way to screen and evaluate concurrent visual, musculoskeletal, and balance complaints, with contribution to epidemiological and intervention research and potential clinical implications for the field of health services and low vision rehabilitation.

Measuring quality in community based housing support - the QPC-H instrument.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to test the psychometric properties and dimensionality of the instrument Quality in Psychiatric Care-Housing (QPC-H) and briefly describe the residents' perception of quality of housing support. Design/methodology/approach - A sample of 174 residents from 22 housing support services in nine Swedish municipalities participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the QPC-H consisted of six dimensions and had a factor structure largely corresponding to that found among other instruments in the Quality in Psychiatric Care (QPC) family of instruments. Findings - CFA revealed that the QPC-H consisted of six dimensions and had a factor structure largely corresponding to that found among other instruments in the QPC family of instruments. The internal consistency of the factors was acceptable except in the case of secure and secluded environment, probably due to few numbers of items. With this exception, the QPC-H shows adequate psychometric properties. Social implications - The residents' ratings of quality of housing service were generally high; the highest rating was for secluded environment and the lowest for participation. This dimension would thus seem to indicate an important area for improvement. Originality/value - The QPC-H includes important aspects of residents' assessment of quality of housing service and offers a simple and inexpensive way to evaluate housing support services from the residents' perspective.

Effects of Feldenkrais method on chronic neck/scapular pain in people with visual impairment: a randomized controlled trial with one-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Feldenkrais method is an effective intervention for chronic neck/scapular pain in patients with visual impairment. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial with an untreated control group. SETTING: Low vision center. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=61) with visual impairment (mean, 53.3 y) and nonspecific chronic (mean, 23.8 y) neck/scapular pain. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomly assigned to the Feldenkrais method group (n=30) or untreated control group (n=31). Patients in the treatment group underwent one 2-hour Feldenkrais method session per week for 12 consecutive weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Blind assessment of perceived pain (visual analog scale [VAS]) during physical therapist palpation of the left and right occipital, upper trapezius, and levator scapulae muscle areas; self-assessed degree of pain on the Visual, Musculoskeletal, and Balance Complaints questionnaire; and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey bodily pain scale. RESULTS: Patients undergoing Feldenkrais method reported significantly less pain than the controls according to the VAS and Visual, Musculoskeletal, and Balance Complaints questionnaire ratings at posttreatment follow-up and 1-year follow-up. There were no significant differences regarding the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey bodily pain scale ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Feldenkrais method is an effective intervention for chronic neck/scapular pain in patients with visual impairment.

Inter-rater and intra-rater agreement on the Nordic Orofacial Test--Screening examination in children, adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate inter-rater and intra-rater agreement on the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S) examination applied to children, adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy (CP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the NOT-S examination, two speech and language pathologists independently assessed video recordings of 48 subjects with CP aged 5-22 years and representing all CP sub-diagnoses and levels of gross motor function and manual ability. Thirty-one subjects were reassessed. Fifteen out of 17 items in the NOT-S examination domains (1) Face at rest, (2) Nose breathing, (3) Facial expression, (4) Masticatory muscle and jaw function, (5) Oral motor function and (6) Speech were rated using a 'yes' (dysfunction observed)/'no' format, generating an overall score of 0-6. RESULTS: Inter-rater agreement: Twelve out of 15 items and five out of six domains showed acceptable unweighted kappa values (κ = 0.46-1.00). The lowest kappa value was found for domain 4 (κ = -0.04), although it had high inter-rater agreement (92%). The linear weighted kappa value for the overall NOT-S examination score was 0.65 (95% CI = 0.49-0.82). Intra-rater agreement: All items and domains showed acceptable unweighted kappa values (items 0.58-1.00 and 0.59-1.00, domains 0.81-1.00 and 0.62-0.89) for both raters. The linear weighted kappa value for the overall NOT-S examination score was 0.81 (95% CI = 0.63-0.99) for rater A and 0.54 (95% CI = 0.25-0.82) for rater B. CONCLUSIONS: The NOT-S examination has acceptable inter-rater and intra-rater agreement when used in young individuals with CP.