Comparison of the Community Integration Questionnaire, the Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique, and the Disability Rating Scale in traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the concurrent validity of the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) in assessing outcomes in traumatic brain injury (TBI) by comparing it with two widely used and well-validated measurements of rehabilitation outcome.
DESIGN: A retrospective relational study of the concurrent validity of the CIQ, Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART), and Disability Rating Scale (DRS).
SETTING: A postacute rehabilitation facility. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy patients with a medical diagnosis of TBI admitted between April 1996 and October 1998 participated in the study.
RESULTS: CIQ and CHART provide ratings that are similar in several areas to those provided by the DRS. Correlation (r) among total scores and subscales for all three instruments ranged from 0.021 to 0.671 (P <.01). Correlation between CIQ and CHART is stronger than that between CIQ and DRS or between CHART and DRS, and the correlation between CHART and DRS is stronger than that between CIQ and DRS.
CONCLUSION: The CIQ appears to be the most appropriate instrument in quantifying rehabilitation outcome in patients with TBI at the participatory (handicap) level. The findings of this study can help clinicians gain a greater understanding of the nature, redundancy, and gaps among functional outcome measures. Monitoring outcomes can also help clinicians better understand the effectiveness of interventions.