Development and Validation of an Activities of Daily Living Inventory for the Rehabilitation of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

There are few validated clinical tools assessing patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that identify relevant activities of daily living (ADL) domains for occupational therapy rehabilitation. This study aims to develop a comprehensive Activities of Daily Living Inventory (ADLI) for people with COPD in two phases. In phase I, the content validity of the ADLI was established by an expert panel of 12 patients with different stages of COPD. In phase II, 120 patients with COPD rated their perceived difficulty for each of the given items of activity. The underlying constructs were explored by a factor analysis of six components, accounting for a total of 78% of the variance. A high Cronbach's alpha value (α = 0.71 to 0.95) of the components and a moderate overall inter-item correlation coefficient (r = 0.54) were reported. These findings suggest that this 26-item ADLI is a valid, comprehensive ADL tool for assessing patients with COPD. By understanding the underlying constructs influencing a specific category of ADL items, occupational therapists can design appropriate strategies to deal with specific problems encountered by their patients.