Artículos de revistas
Exploring the use of washington group questions to identify people with clinical impairments who need services including assistive products: results from five population-based surveys
Fecha
2022Registro en:
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 4304
10.3390/ijerph19074304
Autor
Boggs, Dorothy
Kuper, Hannah
Mactaggart, Islay
Bright, Tess
Murthy, Gvs
Hydara, Abba
McCormick, Ian
Tamblay Narváez, Natalia
Álvarez, Matías L.
Atijosan Ayodele, Oluwarantimi
Yonso, Hisem
Foster, Allen
Polack, Sarah
Institución
Resumen
This study analyses the use of the self-reported Washington Group (WG) question sets as a
first stage screening to identify people with clinical impairments, service and assistive product (AP)
referral needs using different cut-off levels in four functional domains (vision, hearing, mobility and
cognition). Secondary data analysis was undertaken using population-based survey data from five
countries, including one national survey (The Gambia) and four regional/district surveys (Cameroon,
Chile, India and Turkey). In total 19,951 participants were sampled (range 538–9188 in individual
studies). The WG question sets on functioning were completed for all participants alongside clinical
impairment assessments/questionnaires. Using the WG “some/worse difficulty” cut-off identified
people with mild/worse impairments with variable sensitivity (44–79%) and specificity (73–92%) in
three of the domains. At least 64% and 60% of people with mild/worse impairments who required
referral for surgical/medical and rehabilitation/AP services, respectively, self-reported “some/worse
difficulty”, and much fewer reported “a lot/worse difficulty.” For moderate/worse impairment, both
screening cut-offs improved identification of service/AP need, but a smaller proportion of people
with need were identified. In conclusion, WG questions could be used as a first-stage screening
option to identify people with impairment and referral needs, but only with moderate sensitivity
and specificity.