A patient-oriented health status measure in outpatient rehabilitation

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of a patient-centered health status measurement tool in multiple outpatient rehabilitation clinics and to characterize health status before and after an outpatient physical therapy intervention as part of that assessment. Design: Six outpatient rehabilitation clinics voluntarily agreed to incorporate a standardized patient-centered health status questionnaire into everyday practice. Patients completed the SF-36 health status questionnaire before initiating treatment and again at discharge. Only nonsurgical patients without comorbidities were enrolled. Results: Voluntary application of the SF-36 on a small scale was achieved over a period of 3-4 mo. All health concepts improved except general health perceptions. Conclusion: The results suggest that (1) a standard patient-oriented health status questionnaire can be incorporated into outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and useful information can be derived regarding outcomes; (2) careful administrative coordination is necessary to optimize follow-up and decrease burden on both patients and clinicians; (3) although improvements in health status were demonstrated, small sample sizes and the lack of control groups prevents conclusions regarding the effectiveness of physical therapy treatment; and (4) the magnitude of effect sizes suggests that controlled studies could be performed by clinicians partnering with researchers to improve outpatient rehabilitation.