Roseann C. Schaaf, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Director, Jefferson Autism Center of Excellence, and Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy and Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
Amy Carroll, OTD, OTR/L, is Assistant Professor, Post-Professional Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
Elizabeth Conte Waskie, MS, OTR/L, is Occupational Therapist, Colonial School District, New Castle, DE. At the time of the study, Waskie was Graduate Student, Department of Occupational Therapy, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
Rachel L. Dumont, MS, OTR/L, is Research Coordinator and Adjunct Instructor, Jefferson Autism Center of Excellence, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
Elizabeth Ridgway, OTD, OTR, C/NDT, is Director of Pediatric Occupational Therapy, Rose F. Kennedy Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center, and Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics at Montefiore, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
CE Credit: .1 CEU (1 credit hour/1.25 PDU)
Importance: Robust and psychometrically sound performance-based outcome measures are needed for clinical trials of occupational therapy interventions for children with autism.
Objective: To demonstrate a systematic approach for choosing psychometrically sound performance-based outcome measures of daily living skills and socialization for use in clinical trials of occupational therapy interventions for children with autism.
Design: Rapid literature review to identify appropriate measures for studies with this population followed by quality indicator ratings and a nominal group process.
Setting: University.
Participants: Four experts in autism and pediatric outcome measurement.
Outcomes and Measures: Twenty-one outcome measures of daily living skills and socialization were identified and reviewed.
Results: Seven measures met the inclusion criteria. The Assessment of Motor and Process Skills and the Evaluation of Social Interaction–Second Edition, received the highest ratings and group consensus. Several other measures were also scored highly.
Conclusions and Relevance: Careful assessment of psychometric properties is an important component of choosing outcome measures for a clinical trial, but burden of assessment and study objectives are important considerations.
What This Article Adds: This project demonstrates use of a systematic process for choosing outcome measures for a planned clinical trial.
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