Outcomes Instruments and Information

POSNA/PODCI (Pediatric/Adolescent) Instruments

Reviewing and Using the PODCI/POSNA (Pediatric/Adolescent) Outcomes Instruments

1. Instruments will open in a new screen for review or download in Adobe PDF format when selected from the options on the left below.
2. A scoring worksheet has been created (MS Excel 2003) to assist you in scoring the instruments. General instructions can be found on Instructions tab.
   You may wish to save the large scoring worksheet file rather than opening as a web screen as the size (>4MB) may make your browser respond slowly.
3. After administering the questionnaire, response date can be directly entered into the worksheet (DataEntry tab), which will automatically compute the Standardized and Normative scores (Standardized & Normative Scores tab) for each record.
   Please review the release notes at the bottom of this screen for a discussion of previously published Normative scores.

Additional information on the reliability and validity of these instruments, help in understanding the outcomes scoring and comparative Normative scores from a general population may be found in the Understanding Outcomes Scoring, Nomative Study, and Reliability/Validity document.

The Pediatric and Adolescent Outcomes Instruments are designed to assess patients under 19 years of age overall health, pain and ability to participate in normal daily activities, as well as in more vigorous activities associated with young people. The eight scales addressed in the instruments (see below) offer a broad view of the physical, mental, and attitudinal condition of the young patient. These outcomes instruments also measure treatment expectations.

Please note the three pediatric questionnaires are very similar, but with distinct differences between them. The administrator should be cautioned to use extreme care to ensure matching of the correct instrument with the appropriate scoring documentation.

Adolescent (self-report) Outcomes Questionnaire

The Adolescent (self-report) Questionnaire is intended for youth ages 11 to 18 who are capable of completing the form independently. This questionnaire is similar to the Adolescent (parent-report) Outcomes Questionnaire, but does not offer a response option indicating that the respondent is "too young for this activity."

Adolescent (parent-report) Outcomes Questionnaire

The Adolescent (parent-report) Outcomes Questionnaire is designed to be completed by the parent/guardian with knowledge of the 11 to 18 year old child's conditions. This questionnaire is similar to the Adolescent (self-report) Outcomes Questionnaire, with the addition of response options to indicate the child is "too young for this activity."

Pediatric Outcomes Questionnaire

The Pediatric Outcomes Instrument is designed to be completed by the parent/guardian of a child ten years of age or younger who has knowledge of the child's conditions. This questionnaire is similar to the Adolescent (parent-report) Outcomes Questionnaire, but has slightly different wording and uses different scoring algorithms.

The eight scales generated from these instruments are:

• Upper Extremity and Physical Function Scale: Measures difficulty encountered in performing daily personal care and student activities.
• Transfer and Basic Mobility Scale: Measures difficulty experienced in performing routine motion and motor activities in daily activities.
• Sports/Physical Functioning Scale: Measures difficulty or limitations encountered in participating in more active activities or sports.
• Pain/Comfort Scale: Measures the level of pain experienced during the past week.
• Treatment Expectations Scale: Measures the long term expectations of treatment.
• Happiness Scale: Measures overall satisfaction with personal looks and sense of similarity to friends and others of own age.
• Satisfaction with Symptoms Scale: Measures the patient's acceptance of current limitations should this be a life long state.
• Global Functioning Scale: A general combined scale calculated from the first four scales listed above.

Release Notes

1. Normative scores shown in the scoring worksheets may differ from previously published data as a result of corrections to previous rounding for the Standardized means prior to calculating Normative values. Current calculations have not been rounded, but are shown in their respective tables as whole numbers for presentation purposes.
2. Normative values for the Adolescent scales are based on combined data from self-reported and parent-reported data. Values for the parent-reported data allow the scoring of certain questions to be recoded to missing if the parent rated the child as "too young for this activity," whereas this is not an option on the self-reported data.
3. Values for the Adolescent and Pediatric Pain/Comfort scale may not correspond to previously published data due to a correction in the process of counting missing values.
4. Normative values for the Adolescent and Pediatric Pain/Comfort scale may not correspond to previously published data due to a correction in the process of counting missing values.
5. Normative values for the Adolescent and Pediatric Sports/Physical Functioning scale may differ from previously published values due to a coding modification to three specific items: (a) participation in recreational outdoor activities; (b) participation in pickup games or sports; and (c) participation in competitive level sports. Items were recoded to missing if the response was "no," and the explanatory reason marked was because the "activity is out of season" or the parent indicated the child was "too young for the activity."
6. If you notice any miscalculations or technical issues regarding the Scoring Worksheet(s), please Email the AAOS with as much detail as possible so we may investigate and update the worksheet(s) as soon as possible.