Feasibility of a classification system for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and sports therapy interventions for mobility and self-care in spinal cord injury rehabilitation

Objective: To test the feasibility of a classification system developed to record the contents of treatment sessions intended to improve mobility and self-care by persons with a spinal cord injury (SCI) in clinical rehabilitation.

Design: Descriptive study.

Setting: Three Dutch SCI facilities.

Participants: Participants (N = 36) as well as physical therapists (n = 20), occupational therapists (n = 14), and sports therapists (n = 2).

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Questionnaires to assess the clarity of the classification system, time needed to record 1 treatment session, and the distribution of categories and interventions. The classification system consisted of 28 categories at 3 levels of functioning: basic functions (eg, muscle power), basic activities (eg, transfers), and complex activities (eg, walking and moving around outside).

Results: Therapists used 1625 codes to record 856 treatment sessions of 142 patients. For 93% of the treatment sessions, the coding caused little or no doubt. The therapists were able to classify 86.3% of the treatment sessions within 3 minutes. The classification system was rated as useful and easy to use.

Conclusions: The findings support the suitability of our classification system as a tool to record the contents of SCI treatment sessions in different settings and by different therapists.