Validation of the Participation Measure-3 Domains, 4 Dimensions (PM-3D4D).

OBJECTIVE

To examine the construct validity of the Participation Measure-3 Domains, 4 Dimensions (PM-3D4D), a multidimensional participation measure developed for use in rehabilitation practice.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Outpatient rehabilitation programs.

PARTICIPANTS

Rehabilitation patients (N=556; mean age, 61.4±23.6y; 47.1% women).

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The PM-3D4D is a 19-item measure designed to evaluate participation in 3 domains-Productivity, Social, and Community-across 4 dimensions-Diversity, Frequency, Desire for change, and Difficulty. Intercorrelations among the 4 dimensions of the PM-3D4D and correlations between the PM-3D4D and 3 legacy instruments-Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective, Participation Measure for Post-Acute Care, and Satisfaction With Life Scale-were examined to establish the convergent and divergent validity of the PM-3D4D. Known-group validity was evaluated by comparing PM-3D4D scores across age groups and groups of people classified by functional level.

RESULTS

The Diversity scale of the PM-3D4D was strongly correlated with the Frequency scale (Spearman correlation coefficient, r=.83-.96 across the 3 domains), and these 2 scales showed moderate to strong correlations with the Difficulty scale (r=.42-.70) but weak (r=-.4 to 0) and insignificant correlations with the Desire for change scale. The Frequency and Difficulty scales of the PM-3D4D showed moderate to strong correlations with the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective and Participation Measure for Post-Acute Care (r=.41-.82), respectively, and the Desire for change scale had weak correlations with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (r=-.32 to -.18). Significant differences in PM-3D4D scores were found by age and functional level.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of this study support the construct validity of the PM-3D4D, providing evidence for using the PM-3D4D to assess rehabilitation patients' participation performance and helping practitioners identify intervention priorities to improve patients' participation outcomes.