Preliminary results for the PAR-PRO: a measure of home and community participation

OBJECTIVE: To develop a measure of home and community participation related to the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of survey data. SETTING: Nine medical inpatient rehabilitation facilities from 6 states. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 594 patients of mixed impairment type admitted for inpatient rehabilitation in 2002. Mean age was 74.0 years and 61.4% were women. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Reliability and validity of the participation instrument. RESULTS: A 20-item instrument of home and community participation was developed (PAR-PRO). The instrument showed good internal consistency and good Rasch person and item fit statistics. Four subfactors were identified beyond the unidimensional construct of participation including domestic management, socialization, physical vigor, and generative activities. The PAR-PRO total participation score correlated inversely with age (r=-.31, P<.001) but did not differ by sex. CONCLUSIONS: The 20-item PAR-PRO instrument of home and community participation displayed good psychometric characteristics. The instrument shows promise as a broad measure of home and community involvement for persons with disabilities. Further work is needed to support its application for people without disability.