Content Comparison of Aquatic Therapy Outcome Measures for Children with Neuromuscular and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health

Research Group of Humanities and Qualitative Research in Health Science of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Hum&QRinHS), Rey Juan Carlos University, 28922 Madrid, Spain

Association International Aquatic Therapy Faculty, CH-7317 Kliniken Valens, Switzerland

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(21), 4263; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214263

Received: 23 September 2019 / Revised: 30 October 2019 / Accepted: 31 October 2019 / Published: 2 November 2019

(This article belongs to the Section Children's Health)

View Full-Text Download PDF Citation Export

Abstract

Currently, aquatic exercise is among the most common physical activity modalities for children with neuromuscular and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the outcome measures that should be routinely used by therapists working in this specific health-care context have not been widely studied. The purpose of the study was to identify and compare the content of outcome measures used in aquatic physiotherapy for children, employing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a framework. A literature review was used to identify aquatic functioning outcome measures for children with neuromuscular and neurodevelopmental disorders. Content comparison of outcome measures identified was linked to the ICF following the linking guidelines, and content-related metrics were used to analyze them. Four outcome measures were identified (HAAR, Conatser, WOTA 1 and 2, and SWIM), which contained a total of 116 meaningful concepts and were linked to 35 ICF 2nd level categories. The greatest number of items assessed activity and participation categories. Large differences were found in reference to the density of content. For content diversity, the measures were all below 0.5. The identified outcome measurements showed homogeneity with respect to the theoretical foundation; however, some differences were found in terms of content analysis. View Full-Text

Keywords: outcome measure; content comparison; physical therapy modalities; International Classification of Functioning; Disability and Health; nervous system diseases

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Güeita-Rodríguez, J.; Florencio, L.L.; Arias-Buría, J.L.; Lambeck, J.; Fernández-de-las-Peñas, C.; Palacios-Ceña, D. Content Comparison of Aquatic Therapy Outcome Measures for Children with Neuromuscular and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4263. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214263

AMA Style

Güeita-Rodríguez J, Florencio LL, Arias-Buría JL, Lambeck J, Fernández-de-las-Peñas C, Palacios-Ceña D. Content Comparison of Aquatic Therapy Outcome Measures for Children with Neuromuscular and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(21):4263. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214263

Chicago/Turabian Style

Güeita-Rodríguez, Javier, Lidiane Lima Florencio, José Luis Arias-Buría, Johan Lambeck, Cesar Fernández-de-las-Peñas, and Domingo Palacios-Ceña. 2019. "Content Comparison of Aquatic Therapy Outcome Measures for Children with Neuromuscular and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 21: 4263. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214263

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Content Comparison of Aquatic Therapy Outcome Measures for Children with Neuromuscular and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI