COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM TO DETERMINE FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DETERMINE BOTH THEFEASIBILITY OF AND THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH A COMPREHENSIVEVALIDATION STUDY OF A COMPUTER-BASED INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A STANDARDIZED, VALID STATEMENT OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S CAPACITY TO CARRY OUT WORK IN THE COMPETITIVE LABOR MARKET. THE CAPACITY TO WORK IS DETERMINED BY THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S WORKER TRAITS PROFILE DEVELOPED FOR ALL JOBS IN THE U. S. ECONOMY. THE EMPHASIS OF THE STUDY IS THE INTEGRATION OF BOTH QUALITATIVE (SUBJECTIVE) AND QUANTITATIVE (OBJECTIVE) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE PATIENT AND PHYSICIAN. SUBJECTIVE INFORMATION IS BASED ON DATA OBTAINED FROM THE PATIENT'S/PHYSICIAN'S PROTOCOLS REGARDING THE PATIENT'S FUNCTIONAL CAPACITIES RESULTING FROM THE MEDICAL CONDITION. OBJECTIVE INFORMATION IS BASED ON DATA OBTAINED FROM PHYSICIANS AS IT RELATES TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION'S LISTING OF IMPAIRMENTS AND THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION'S GUIDES TO THE EVALUATION OF PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT. A SERIES OF SUBSTUDIES IS PROPOSED, ADDRESSING STANDARDIZATION, UNDERSTANDABILITY, RELIABILITY, VALIDITY, FACE VALIDITY AND SAMPLING VALIDITY, CONVERGENT VALIDITY, CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY, ACCEPTABILITY AND CREDIBILITY WHICH WOULD PROVIDE A MODEL FOR A PHASE II COMPREHENSIVE STUDY REPLICATED ACROSS ALL DISABILITY CATEGORIES. APPROPRIATE STATISTICAL METHODOLOGIES WILL BE USED FOR EACH SUBSTUDY. THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DETERMINE BOTH THEFEASIBILITY OF AND THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH A COMPREHENSIVEVALIDATION STUDY OF A COMPUTER-BASED INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A STANDARDIZED, VALID STATEMENT OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S CAPACITY TO CARRY OUT WORK IN THE COMPETITIVE LABOR MARKET. THE CAPACITY TO WORK IS DETERMINED BY THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S WORKER TRAITS PROFILE DEVELOPED FOR ALL JOBS IN THE U. S. ECONOMY. THE EMPHASIS OF THE STUDY IS THE INTEGRATION OF BOTH QUALITATIVE (SUBJECTIVE) AND QUANTITATIVE (OBJECTIVE) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE PATIENT AND PHYSICIAN. SUBJECTIVE INFORMATION IS BASED ON DATA OBTAINED FROM THE PATIENT'S/PHYSICIAN'S PROTOCOLS REGARDING THE PATIENT'S FUNCTIONAL CAPACITIES RESULTING FROM THE MEDICAL CONDITION. OBJECTIVE INFORMATION IS BASED ON DATA OBTAINED FROM PHYSICIANS AS IT RELATES TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION'S LISTING OF IMPAIRMENTS AND THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION'S GUIDES TO THE EVALUATION OF PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT. A SERIES OF SUBSTUDIES IS PROPOSED, ADDRESSING STANDARDIZATION, UNDERSTANDABILITY, RELIABILITY, VALIDITY, FACE VALIDITY AND SAMPLING VALIDITY, CONVERGENT VALIDITY, CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY, ACCEPTABILITY AND CREDIBILITY WHICH WOULD PROVIDE A MODEL FOR A PHASE II COMPREHENSIVE STUDY REPLICATED ACROSS ALL DISABILITY CATEGORIES. APPROPRIATE STATISTICAL METHODOLOGIES WILL BE USED FOR EACH SUBSTUDY.