Assessment of Function in Routine Clinical Practice
Description of the COOP Chart Method and Preliminary Findings
Published in: Journal of Chronic Diseases, v. 40, Supplemental. 1,1987, p. 55S-69S
Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 1987
The COOP Project, a primary care research network, has begun development of a Chart method to screen function quickly. The COOP Charts, analogous to Snellen Charts, were pretested in two practices on adult patients (N = 117) to test feasibility, clinical utility, and validity. Patients completed questionnaires containing validated health status scales and sociodemographic variables. Practice staff filled out forms indicating COOP Chart scores and clinical data. The authors held debriefing interviews with staff who administered the Charts. The results indicate the Charts take 1-2 minutes to administer, are easy to use, and produce important clinical data. The patterns of correlations between the Charts and validity indicator variables provide evidence for both convergent and discriminant validity. They conclude that new measures are needed to assess function in a busy office practice and that the COOP Chart system represents one promising strategy.
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