A standardized instrument used in clinical and research settings to evaluate change in health status of an individual, group, or population that is attributable to an intervention or series of interventions

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(Robinson et al.,  2013)

Self Reported (by patient or proxy)

• valuable representation of the patient's satisfaction with the device

• highly subjective

• susceptible to interpretation failure

Professionally Reported

• highly educated qualitative report

• influenced by the experience of the professional

• susceptible to clinician bias (especially if the evaluator is also the clinician who prescribed the device)

Performance Based

• quantitative, objective, unbiased

• bubble effect: performed at a single point in time, in an artificial setting

• floor/ceiling effects: unable to gauge measure against a patient's absolute worst or best

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(Robinson et al.,  2013)

Reliability: free from random error

Validity: measures the intended goal of the device

Responsiveness: ability to detect true change in the area it is intended to measure

Sensibility/Feasibility: ease, appropriateness

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(Robinson et al.,  2013)

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How does a step counting AFO measure up?

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Reliable ✔   Valid ✔    Responsive ✔   Feasible ✔

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(Boone et al., 2006)