An Exploration of the Implementation of the PedsQL in Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation

Research Objectives: To probe the implementation and feasibility of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) as a centralized measure to support standardized assessments within pediatric rehabilitation.

Design: This was an exploratory mixed-methods study to probe the implementation of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) as an outcome measure within the therapeutic process. This study took place over 4 months and used quantitative survey and qualitative semi-structured interview methodologies.

Setting: Three outpatient pediatric rehabilitation locations within a healthcare system.

Participants: Twenty-four therapists were recruited from three pediatric outpatient clinics, with fourteen completing the survey. Three clinicians participated in follow-up interviews.

Interventions: A brief survey was administered to probe occupational (OT), physical (PT), and speech (ST) therapists’ perceptions of the inclusion of the PedsQL within the therapeutic process. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to attempt to gain additional insight across the therapeutic team.

Main Outcome Measures: The Usage Rating Profile-Assessment ([URP-A], Chafouleas, et al., 2012) probed implementation of the PedsQL in six areas: system support, feasibility, understanding, collaboration, system climate, and acceptability. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to probe the therapists' perceived value of inclusion of the PedsQL as an additional outcome measure within the therapeutic process.

Results: All three disciplines reported agreement with understanding of the PedsQL and the need for parent collaboration during the therapeutic process. Statistically significant differences were noted between OT and PT when compared to ST in the areas of acceptability (p <.01), additional support needed (p <.05), feasibility (p <.01), and clinic climate (p <.01). During the interviews, all therapists expressed a need for additional time to implement the PedsQL however also noted the importance for inclusion of a quality of life measure.

Conclusions: OT and PT demonstrated overall support of the PedsQL while ST reported that the administration of was burdensome. This study probed the inclusion of a centralized quality of life measure across disciplines in pediatric rehabilitation, however revealed the need for further exploration as to why this tool was not accepted across the therapy team.

Author(s) Disclosures: No conflicts