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Biomedical subjects

D T Wade

Publications and source records attributed to D T Wade.

148 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

The Rivermead Mobility Index: a further development of the Rivermead Motor Assessment.

This paper reports on a development of the Rivermead Motor Assessment Gross Function scale, the Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI), a new measure of mobility disability which concentrates on body mobility. An early development included a second scale concentrating on elective mobility, but the results showed this to be unreliable. The RMI comprises a series of 14 questions and one direct observation, and covers a range of activities from turning over in bed to running. Its inter-observer reliability was tested on two groups of patients (n = 23 and 20 respectively) and it is reliable to a limit of 2 points (out of 15). Its validity as a measure of mobility after head injury and stroke was tested by concurrent measurement of mobility using gait speed and endurance, and by standing balance. The RMI does form a scale. It is short, simple, and clinically relevant, and can be used in hospital or at home.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Continuing health care criteria: their use in a specialist disability service.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the British National Health Service (NHS) criteria for determining eligibility for continuing health care when applied to a population of younger people with severe, usually neurological disability. DESIGN: an observational study with descriptive analysis of the data. SETTING: the specialist disability service catering to the population of Oxfordshire (560,000). SUBJECTS: 196 patients in contact with the specialist services in January 1996. INTERVENTION: senior staff graded the extent to which each patient had one or more of five health and three non-health needs addressed by the service (rated on a scale of 0-3 for each item). MEASURES: the Oxfordshire Health Authority guidelines for determining eligibility were used, with an additional three criteria covering non-health needs (social interaction, supporting carers, supporting Social Service care packages). RESULTS: 196 patients were assessed: 128 (65%) had all health and non-health needs being satisfied by the service; multiple needs were being met in 165 (84%). Only 18 (9%) had no health needs being met. There was no clear-cut separation either between different categories of health need or between health and non-health needs. CONCLUSION: the current categories cannot be applied at the level of individual patients without conflict because: they are unclear, not being based on any logical, coherent framework in almost all patients the needs being met by health services include many non-health needs.

Persons with Disabilities↗