Background Minimal clinically important improvement (MCII) is the smallest outcome measure change important to patients. Research suggests that MCII is dependent on patients' baseline functional status measures. Objective The purposes of this study were: (1) to confirm whether MCII is dependent on patients' admission scores and (2) to test whether MCII is dependent on selected demographic characteristics. Study Design and Setting This was a prospective, longitudinal, observational cohort study of 6,651 patients with orthopedic knee impairments treated in 332 outpatient rehabilitation clinics in 27 states in the United States. Outcome Measures Patient self-reports of functional status (FS) from the Lower Extremity Functional Scale were assessed using a computerized adaptive testing application (0–100 scale). Methods An anchored-based longitudinal method, with a 15-point Likert-type scale (−7 to +7), was used to provide a global rating of change (GROC). The MCII threshold for the GROC was defined at a cut-score of +3 or greater and was determined using nonparametric receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for each of the following variables: sex, symptom acuity, age group, and quartile of baseline FS scores. Results The results showed that MCII was dependent on patient baseline and demographic characteristics. Patients who were male, were younger, had more-acute symptoms, or had lower FS scores at admission required more FS change to report meaningful change. Limitations As this study was a secondary analysis, how the length of treatment mediated the relationship between the independent and dependent variables was unclear. Conclusions Although a single MCII index may provide a standard cut-score defining the smallest FS change that is meaningful to patients, researchers and clinicians should be aware that MCII is context specific and not a fixed attribute. Current results may help researchers, clinicians, and policy makers to interpret FS change related to the importance of the change to the patient.

Although the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), as recommended by the American Thoracic Society, is widely used as a measure of functional endurance, it may not be applicable in some settings and populations. We sought to examine, therefore, performance over the first 2 minutes and the full 6 minutes of the 6MWT. Specifically, we investigated completion rates, distances walked, test-retest reliability, and the relationship between distances walked over the first 2 and the full 6 minutes of the 6MWT.

BACKGROUND: As the field of rehabilitation shifts its focus towards improving functional capacity instead of managing disability, return to work (RTW) and return to the community emerge as key goals in a person's recovery from major disabling illness

Background: Building control architecture that balances the assistive manipulation systems with the benefits of direct human control is a crucial challenge of human–robot collaboration. It promises to help people with disabilities more efficiently control wheelchair and wheelchair-mounted robot arms to accomplish activities of daily living.Methods: In this study, our research objective is to design an eye-tracking assistive robot control system capable of providing targeted engagement and motivating individuals with a disability to use the developed method for self-assistance activities of daily living. The graphical user interface is designed and integrated with the developed control architecture to achieve the goal.Results: We evaluated the system by conducting a user study. Ten healthy participants performed five trials of three manipulation tasks using the graphical user interface and the developed control framework. The 100% success rate on task performance demonstrates the effectiveness of our system for individuals with motor impairments to control wheelchair and wheelchair-mounted assistive robotic manipulators.Conclusions: We demonstrated the usability of using this eye-gaze system to control a robotic arm mounted on a wheelchair in activities of daily living for people with disabilities. We found high levels of acceptance with higher ratings in the evaluation of the system with healthy participants.