The authors developed an instrument called the “Rehabilitation Problem-Solving Form” (RPS-Form), which allows health care professionals analyze patient problems, to focus on specific targets, and to relate the salient disabilities to relevant and modifiable variables. In particular, the RPS-Form was designed to address the patients' perspectives and enhance their participation in the decision-making process. Because the RPS-Form is based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Model of Functioning and Disability, it could provide a common language for the description of human functioning and therefore facilitates multidisciplinary responsibility and coordination of interventions. The use of the RPS-Form in clinical practice is demonstrated by presenting an application case of a patient with a chronic pain syndrome.

Objective. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) is a valid and widely used instrument for the assessment of osteoarthritis patients. We examined whether applying Rasch analysis, a new item-response theory, supports its metric properties.Methods. The metric properties were examined in a cohort of patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. In an exploratory approach, a validated German version of the WOMAC was analyzed using Rasch analysis for its unidimensionality and construct definition.Results. One hundred fifty-eight patients were included in the study. The 3 WOMAC domains-pain, stiffness, and physical function-were unidimensional when examined separately. In an analysis including all items, the stiffness items did not fit the model. This indicates that they are distinct from the pain and function items. Item difficulty analyses revealed redundancy between corresponding pain and function items addressing the same task (e.g., "pain while standing upright" and "difficulty while standing"). Conclusion. Applying Rasch analysis to the 3 WOMAC domains confirms their unidimensionality.However, the pain and function items seem to represent the same construct. Thus, it may be possible to simplify these domains to avoid redundancy. The impact of reducing items must nevertheless be examined.

Moderate to large effects (0.48 -1.04) were found in responsiveness scores in the 3 questionnaires. No major differences in reproducibility and responsiveness between the answer modalities were found. Conclusion. Although large variability between the scores on the original answer scales and the NRS was observed, the BASDAI, BASFI, and DFI can be administered with an NRS, which does not show important differences compared with the original scales.

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