Abstract 81 Poster Session III, Monday 5/3 (poster 353)

Purpose: To field test a modified version of the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM) in a school aged cohort of children with Down syndrome. 211 children born in Western Australia between 1980 and 1991 were selected through the Birth Defects Registry, the Disability Services Commission, and the regional Down syndrome Parent Group. These children account for 85% of school aged children with Down syndrome. 15% of families chose not to participate.

Measures: The WeeFIM has 18 items on a 7 point scale (1 = complete dependence and 7 = complete independence) in 6 essential functional domains: self-care (SC), sphincter control (SPC), transfers (T), locomotion (L), communication (C), and social cognition (SC). The WeeFIM was adopted for parent use after successful field testing of face to face and phone interview versions. Children were considered independent (Indep.) if child performed tasks without adult help (WeeFIM scores 6-7). Children were considered to need supervision (Super) if they required adult reminders to complete tasks (WeeFIM score 5). Children with severe functional limitations (Severe) required adult help to complete tasks (WeeFIM scores 1-4). Additional information was obtained on health, educational, and family status.

Results: The mean age of the cohort was 11.4 years (SD=3.6). The mean (± SD) adjusted WeeFIM score increased from 99 (± 19) in children 5-9 years (n = 83), to 107 (± 14) in children ages 10-13 years (n=65) to 114 (±14) in children ages 14-17 years (n=59)(X2 = 37.8, df=2, p<.001). The presence of heart conditions (p=.15) or ENT conditions (p=.80) had no influence on total WeeFIM scores. Severe functional limitations occurred in less than 5% of school age children with Down syndrome, 34-45% of children required supervision for complex self-care, communication and social skills.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the feasibility of assessing functional status prior to adulthood in children with developmental disabilities and has the potential to examine competencies that are critical to community living. (Table)

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