CHART (Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique) is a widely used questionnaire useful in measuring societal participation for persons with disabilities. The goal of CHART-SF (Short Form) was to develop a shorter questionnaire that would reproduce all the CHART sub-scales with at least 90% accuracy and be appropriate for general population use. CHART-SF includes 17 items from the original 37 question CHART, and the addition of three summary variables in the Social Integration sub-scale. Selection of CHART-SF items was gathered by taking a population that had completed the full version of CHART and performing regressions to identify the items in each scale that explain the largest amount of variance in the subscale score. The analysis was conducted on various disability populations including persons with spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, burn and amputations. Results indicate that there is a high correlation between all the CHART-SF sub-scales and CHART counterparts. Additionally, CHART-SF yielded reasonable estimates of Physical Independence, Cognitive Independence, Mobility, Social Integration, and Occupation in all disability categories. The CHART-SF has been implemented as part of the 1999 Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (N=2,200). The vast majority of people who did not identify themselves as having a limitation, as defined by the BRFSS, showed no participation restriction as measured by CHART-SF. Moreover, significant differences were found between people with and without disabilities on all CHART SF subscales. CHART-SF shows to be a useful alternative to the original CHART.
Learning Objectives: 1 – To understand the association between the CHART Long Form and the CHART Short Form 2 – To understand the practical application of using a measure of handicap as part of a population-based disability surveillance system
Keywords: Outcome Measures, Disability
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.