Peer-reviewed article
Measuring Participation in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.
Spiess K, Fornefeld D, Duran I, Schönau E, Gross S et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review examines measurement methods for assessing participation in children and adolescents within health care interventions, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework. The review identified four publications describing 23 measurement methods across five databases. While some evidence of validity was found for these measurement tools, the overall quality of the underlying studies was assessed as low.
Key points
- 23 measurement methods were identified across 4 publications for assessing participation in children and adolescents
- Measurement methods showed indications of adequate content and construct validity
- Criterion and structural validity ranged from adequate to questionable
- The quality of studies evaluating these measurement methods was low
- Many existing measurement methods lack strong evidence for their validity and reliability
Limitations
This is a methodological review focused on measurement tools rather than child outcomes or well-being impacts. It cannot tell us whether interventions using these measures actually improve children's participation or health.
Abstract
Background The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and its child and youth version provide a holistic view of health problems and describe health status at five different levels. Some levels have measurement methods that can be used to visualise the success of therapy. However, this is questionable for the level of participation. The aim of this review is to determine whether there are any valid measurement methods for assessing participation in health care intervention for children and adolescents according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Methods A systematic literature review was based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses criteria. The search query was created according to the Patient/Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Study Design scheme and used in two search runs across five databases (PubMED, Cochrane Database, NeuroBITE, APA PsychNET and PEDro). Publications were included or excluded by three reviewers based on defined criteria. The included publications were evaluated using the AMSTAR-2 tool and the study and measurement characteristics and measurement properties in terms of validity and reliability were presented. This systematic review is listed in PROSPERO. Results A total of four publications were included, describing 23 measurement methods. With regard to validity, there are indications of adequate content and construct validity, as well as adequate to the questionable criterion and structural validity. Conclusions Measurement methods for assessing participation in health care interventions according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for children and adolescents exist. There is evidence of validity, but the quality of the studies is low.