Authors

  1. Wright, Jerry BA
  2. Bushnik, Tamara PhD
  3. Hammond, Flora MD
  4. Novack, Thomas PhD
  5. Wood, Ken PhD

Article Content

Objectives: (1) Compare the Supervision Rating Scale (SRS) with the Disability Rating Scale Level of Functioning (DRS LOF) variable. (2) Evaluate the usefulness of the 13-level SRS compared to a collapsed 5-level version. Hypotheses: (1) The SRS (received supervision) will be highly related to the DRS LOF (needed supervision). (2) All 13 levels of the SRS will not be useful in measuring individuals with brain injury after 1 year of injury (frequency and relationship with DRS LOF). (3) A collapsed 5-level SRS will be more useful in measuring individuals with brain injury after 1 year of injury. Participants: Two thousand nine hundred forty-six individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) at 1 year postinjury. Methods: Individuals were interviewed as part of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database (NIDRR TBIMS NDB). Data were analyzed with Spearman's r, frequencies, and boxplots. Results: Seven levels of the SRS have less than 4% of subjects. There are 7 levels of the SRS that do not differentiate when compared to the DRS LOF (LOF scores are the same for levels of SRS). After collapsing the SRS, there are no levels with less than 4%, and all levels differentiate when compared to the DRS LOF. The relationship with LOF improved after collapsing to 5 levels (r = 0.72, P < .001). Conclusions: The original SRS has levels that are not useful in measuring individuals with brain injury after 1 year of injury. Collapsing the SRS to 5 levels may improve its utility.

 

REFERENCES

 

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3. Rappaport M, Hall KM, Hopkins HK, et al. Disability rating scale for severe head trauma: coma to community. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1982;63:118-123.