SCI Evaluation and Assessments

OT Dude Academy’s Free NBCOT® Exam Prep Course Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) SCI Evaluation and Assessments

Evaluation

Some factors to consider for clients with SCI include:1 2 

  • Sensory loss
  • Motor function loss
  • Spasticity, tone
  • Posture and trunk control
  • Active movements
  • Wrist and hand function
  • Bowel and bladder function
  • Sexual function
  • Temperature regulation
  • Pain
  • Fatigue

ASIA Scale

The American Spinal Injury Association Scale classifies spinal cord injuries.

Functional Independence Measure (FIM)

Measures the level of independence with the activities of daily living (ADLs).

Phased-out and being replaced by CARE Tool.

CARE Tool (Section-GG)

Scores the patient’s level of independence with ADLs on a scale of 1-6.

See blog posts 1 and 2 for an introduction and review.

Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART)

An interview tool that is used to assess participation through the World Health Organization dimensions. Subscales of physical independence, mobility, occupation, social integration, and economic self-sufficiency are characterized from a score of 0-100 each for a total score of 500. Normative data was established for clients with SCI.3 

Canadian Occupational Performance Measure

A client-centered measure of changes in occupational performance in self-care, productivity, and leisure. The COPM has been shown to be a reliable tool for assessing patients’ satisfaction for the performance of daily activities after a SCI.4 

Goal Attainment Scale

Evaluates progress against a predicted goal and actively encourages cooperative goal setting between the occupational practitioners and client.5 

Role Checklist

Evaluates the roles that individuals maintain and their impact on participation in their daily life. Clients describe their past, present, and future roles in 10 categories.6 7 

Life Satisfaction Index A

Obtains a measure of perceived quality of life. Normative data for use in SCI was obtained with high internal consistency and criterion validity.8 9 

Modified Ashworth Scale

For assessing the level of spasticity in clients with SCI.10 

International Spinal Cord Injury Pain (ISCIP)

Defines and classifies the pain reported by clients with SCI into 3 tiers.11 

  1. Knight, L. A., Thornton, H. A., & Turner-Stokes, L. (2003). Management of neurogenic heterotopic ossification: three case histories to illustrate the role of physiotherapy. Physiotherapy, 89(8), 471-477.[↩]
  2. Model Systems Knowledge Transition Center. (2020). Spinal Cord Injury Fact Sheet Booklet. Retrieved from www.MSKTC.org/SCI[↩]
  3. Whiteneck, G. G., Charlifue, S. W., Gerhart, K. A., Overholser, J. D., & Richardson, G. N. (1992). Quantifying handicap: A new measure of long-term rehabilitation outcomes. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 73, 519-526.[↩]
  4. Berardi, A., Galeoto, G., Guarino, D., Marquez, M. A., De Santis, R., Valente, D., … & Tofani, M. (2019). Construct validity, test-retest reliability, and the ability to detect change of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in a spinal cord injury population. Spinal cord series and cases, 5(1), 1-8.[↩]
  5. Ottenbacher, K. J. & Cusick, A. (1990). Goal attainment scaling as a method of clinical service evaluation. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 44, 519–525[↩]
  6. Barris, R., Oakley, F., & Kielhofner, G. (1987). The role checklist. In B. Hemphill (Ed.), Mental health assessment in occupational therapy. Thorofare, NJ: Slack.[↩]
  7. Oakley, F., Kielhofner, G., Barris, R., & Reichler, R. (1986). The role checklist: Development and empirical assessment of reliability. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 6, 157-170.[↩]
  8. Schulz, R. & Decker, S. (1985). Long-term adjustment to physical disability: The role of social support, perceived control, and self-blame. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 1162-1172.[↩]
  9. Fuhrer, M. J., Rintala, D. H., Hart, K. A., Clearman, R., & Young, M. E. (1992). Rela- tionship of life satisfaction to impairment, disability, and handicap among persons with spinal cord injury living in the community. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 73, 552-557.[↩]
  10. Haas, B. M., Bergström, E., Jamous, A., & Bennie, A. (1996). The inter rater reliability of the original and of the modified Ashworth scale for the assessment of spasticity in patients with spinal cord injury. Spinal cord, 34(9), 560-564.[↩]
  11. Bryce, T. N., Biering-Sørensen, F., Finnerup, N. B., Cardenas, D. D., Defrin, R., Lundeberg, T., … & Dijkers, M. (2012). International spinal cord injury pain classification: part I. Background and description. Spinal cord, 50(6), 413-417.[↩]
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