Dados do Trabalho

Título

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ICF-BASED TOOL TO ASSESS THE WORK FUNCTIONING OF PERSONS WITH EPILEPSY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Introdução

Difficulties in acquiring and keeping a job are frequently reported by persons with epilepsy. However, social and health professionals face challenges to assess the functioning of persons with epilepsy (PWE) in Brazil. To date, there is no specific-epilepsy instrument focused on work.

Objetivo

Developing an ICF-based tool to assess work functioning in clinical settings.

Método

Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a framework we developed a tool to assess the work functioning in clinical settings in Brazil. The development process was composed of three phases. The first phase was the content development, which include four steps: a literature review; ICF-linking rules application; questions and response options development. The second phase was the pilot test, which was conducted with a convenience sample of 20 PWE being treated at the Epilepsy Outpatient Clinic of the Federal University of Paraná. Finally, the face validation, in which a group of 10 neurologists evaluated the questionnaire.

Resultados

This study presents the preliminary results of the three development phases mentioned above. The Work Functioning Assessment for Epilepsy (WOFAE) with 46 items: thirty-eight questions related to the difficulties that PWE face in work participation and eight questions related to their frequency. The pilot test results showed a significant difference in relation to work functioning (p-value: 0.001) between the group of PWE that have been working (N=10) and the group of PWE that have not been working (N=10) at the moment of the interview. Conversely, there is no difference in terms of age and years of schooling (p-value: 0.093). Regarding the face validation, most of the experts considered the questionnaire very pertinent concerning clarity (89,25%), understandability (93,5%), language (89,75%), and relevance (94%).

Conclusão

As far as we know, the WOFAE is the first specific-epilepsy instrument to assess work functioning. It can be a useful tool to measure the clinical evolution and research outcomes and contribute to the granting of benefits and retirement pensions of PWE in Brazil. However, the development process has not yet been concluded, and there are subsequent phases in which it will be subject to psychometric analyses, to ensure the validity and reliability of the instrument.

Palavras-chave

Epilepsy; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health; Employment; Patient Outcome Assessment; Surveys and Questionnaires; Employment.