Development of an instrument for assessment of mobility-related participation outcomes: The NOMO 1.0

Abstract

Background:

Instruments for assessment of outcomes of mobility device interventions in terms of participation in everyday life and society for persons with walking disability are lacking.

Objective:

To describe the development process of the ‘Nordic mobility-related participation outcome evaluation of assistive device interventions’ (NOMO 1.0).

Methods:

1) Rasch analysis of a mobility-related participation questionnaire based on data from interviews with 111 powered wheelchair or scooter users. 2) Construction of a new self-report instrument, based on the ICF framework in a Nordic context. The development encompassed consultancy with mobility device users ( $\mathit{N}=41$ ), assistive technology professionals ( $\mathit{N}=20$ ) and researchers ( $\mathit{N}=17$ ), and three rounds of pilot testing among mobility device users ( $\mathit{N}=113$ ). 3) Reliability testing of the instrument among 147 mobility device users.

Results:

The Rasch analysis demonstrated construct validity, but low discriminative ability. The subsequently developed instrument was found to be content valid and feasible, and the test-retest reliability was satisfactory.

Conclusions:

The NOMO 1.0 is available free of charge in four Nordic languages. Further psychometric testing of the NOMO 1.0 is being planned.