The association between perceived and observed ability to use everyday technology in working age people with ABI

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy
• Main Authors: Malinowsky, Camilla, Larsson Lund, Maria
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Inst för neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle / Dept of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society 2016
• Subjects: Luleå
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10616/44999

Everyday technology (ET), including computers and automated telephone services, is increasingly required for everyday functioning. However, people with acquired brain injury (ABI) may have difficulty with ET use. To design interventions to support ET use, further knowledge of how to assess dimensions of such use is needed. This study investigated the relationship between the perceived difficulty of ET use (self-reported using the Short version of the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire, S-ETUQ) and observed ability to use ET (observed using the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment, META) in a sample of people with ABI (n=81). Data were analysed using a Rasch measurement model, and person measures of perceived difficulty and observed ability to use ET were identified and correlated. The person measures had a correlation of .49 (p ˂.001). In groups of different severity levels after ABI, significant associations were found in the moderate (.36) and severe (.47) disability groups. In the good recovery group, only a non-significant correlation was found (.21). This indicates that the S-ETUQ and the META measures different but complementary dimensions of ET use. Hence, the assessments are proposed to be used together in clinical practice to more fully understand the ability of people with ABI to use ET. Promobilia Foundation Strategic Research Health Care Programme of Umeå University Luleå University of Technology Accepted