Reliability of the Australian therapy outcome measures for quantifying disability and health

The Australian Therapy Outcome Measures (AusTOMs) quantify client outcomes for physiotherapy, speech pathology and occupational therapy across four domains: impairment (of body structure and function); limitation in functional activity; restriction of participation in societal roles; and distress/wellbeing (level of concern). Data reporting the preliminary reliability of the AusTOMs tools are presented. Participants were 150 clinicians from hospital and rehabilitation centres in Melbourne, Australia. Written case vignettes were used to obtain percentage agreement scores between raters for each of the four domains of the AusTOMs. Test–retest reliability was also determined.

Satisfactory preliminary inter-rater scores were obtained, with most scales in each profession showing high levels of agreement, although some scales had at least one domain with less than 80% agreement. Across all three professions, test–retest reliability was satisfactory. Overall, specific domains showed less agreement than others, and the implications of these findings and indications for further research are discussed.