Measuring participation in children and adolescents with and without disabilities: a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: According to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
(ICF), participation is defined as “the involvement of the subject in situations of life” and is fundamental in the development of children and adolescents. In case of children with disabilities, participation allows a better understanding of the possible impact of deficiencies in daily life.

Objective: To evaluate measurement scales of participation in children and adolescents with and without disabilities.

Method: Systematic review. Validation studies of measurement scales of participation
in children and adolescents with and without disabilities without language restriction were
included. The search was performed in Pubmed, EMBASE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, Health Virtual Library, Opengrey and Google Scholar. The data were extracted and analyzed in Microsoft Excel. Protocol Register PROSPERO 2015: CRD42015020644.

Results: 1689 articles were collected through electronic search, 9 scales were selected for analysis. Diversity in size and application between the scales selected was found. The number of patients included in the original validations was variable, as the percentage of children and/or adolescents with disabilities included in the validation studies.

Conclusions: There is great variability in the psychometric properties and characteristics of
the scales included in this review, mainly for which the participation construct differs according to culture, so the selected scales require transcultural adaptations for their use.