Measuring health status of people who are wheelchair-dependent: validity of the Sickness Impact Profile 68 and the Nottingham Health Profile

Purpose : Several questionnaires measuring health status are available, but their validity and correspondence between them in people with severe physi cal disabilities is not well known. In this study, the equivalence of the N ottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the Sickness Impact Profile 68 (SIP68) w as examined. Methods : Patients were 111 people who were wheelchair-bound due to spinal cord injuries (45%), rheumatic diseases (27%) or other causes (28%). Intern al consistency, associations between scales of both questionnaires and with criterion variables (reflecting upper and lower extremity function, percei ved health, social functioning and well-being) were examined. Results : Both the NHP and the SIP68 were of acceptable clinimetric quality (Cronbach's alpha 0.53-0.85). Agreement between scales of both questionnai res was moderate for scales reflecting emotional health (0.56) and for scal es reflecting physical (0.22-0.68) and social functioning (0.28-0.35). Conclusion : The NHP reflects perceived health, whereas the SIP68 reflects functional health status. In rehabilitation research, a careful choice betw een available health status measures must be made.