Assessing environmental barriers by means of the Swedish craig hospital inventory of environmental factors among people post-stroke

Abstract

Background When occupational therapists address environmental barriers to occupational engagement, some barriers might not be possible to reduce for single individuals, because decisions have to be taken at community or societal level, for example changes in public transport. Investigating environmental barriers by means of the Swedish Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors (CHIEF-S) may increase our understanding of the environmental impact on occupation engagement and the methodological challenges to assess environmental barriers. Aims To investigate and describe the magnitude of encountered environmental barriers in a group of people post-stroke and to assess psychometric properties of the CHIEF-S. Material and methods In total, 34 participants, who had sustained a stroke in Sweden were recruited. Results The participants reported in average 2,7 barriers and the total frequency-magnitude score of barriers (CHIEF-S score) was 0.45. The Cronbach’s α for the total CHIEF-S was 0.80 and the analysis of test-retest reliability revealed ICC = 0.86. The entire instrument demonstrated better psychometric properties than the single sub-scales. Conclusion In this study, the frequency-magnitude of environmental barriers encountered by people post-stroke are reported at a group level and adds information to the cumulative knowledge generation on perceived environmental barriers in the society. However, to inform which interventions are needed at a more detailed level, other data collection methods have to be added.