The LIFE-H was developed to assess life habits and handicap situations, which are concepts related to social participation (Noreau et al. 2002; Dumont et al. 2003). Life habits are defined as “those habits that ensure the survival and development of a person in society throughout his or her life” and they include activities ranging from ADL’s to social roles (Fougeyrollas et al. 1998). A handicap situation is “a disruption in the accomplishment of a person’s life habits, taking into account age, sex and socio-cultural identity, resulting from impairments, disabilities or environmental factors” (Fougeyrollas et al. 1998). The LIFE-H includes 12 categories: nutrition, fitness, personal care, communication, housing, mobility, responsibilities, interpersonal relationships, community life, education, employment, and recreation.

Number of items: The long form contains 240 items, whereas the short form contains 77 items. The long form can be used as a whole or as sub-sections and the short form is a general measure of handicap.

Procedure/Administration: Self or therapist-administered. The response categories consider the level of difficulty (5 point ordinal scale) and the type of assistance (4 point ordinal scale) required to do each life habit. Satisfaction for each item is reported using a 5-point scale (1=very dissatisfied to 5=very satisfied).

How scored: The level of difficulty and the types of assistance are combined and weighted to derive an accomplishment score. Total scores for each life habit category range from 0-10.

Interpretability: There are no published norms; however, data from various SCI studies provide some basis for comparison (Fougeyrollas et al. 1998; Noreau et al. 2000).

Acceptability: Input was obtained from rehabilitation experts and individuals with SCI (children and adults).

Languages: French, English

Usability: N/a

Time to administer: The long form requires 20 to 120 minutes to complete (depending on which sections are used) and the short form takes between 30 to 60 minutes.

Time to score: N/a

Training required: None

Availability: The Life-H may be purchased from this website: http://www.ripph.qc.ca

Equipment required: N/a

Summary:

• The LIFE-H is a conceptually strong tool that incorporates the interaction of the individual and their environment, and thus, overlaps with the ICF. Participation is based on the individual’s perspective of performance rather than describing it from a societal perspective.

Psychometric Summary:

Note: TR= Test re-test; IC= Internal Consistency; Inter-O=Inter-observer; Intra-O=Intra-observer; SS=Sensitivity/Specificity; S= Short version; L= Long version; N/a= No information.

Red light= A single study involving SCI subjects which has less than adequate findings of reliability, validity, and/or responsiveness.

Yellow light= A single study involving subjects with SCI which has adequate to excellent findings of reliability, validity, and/or responsiveness.

Green light= At least 2 studies involving subjects with SCI which have adequate to excellent findings of reliability, validity, and/or responsiveness.

References

• Dumont C, Bertrand R, Fougeyrollas P, Gervais M. Rasch modeling and the measurement of social participation. J Appl Meas 2003;4:309-325.
• Fougeyrollas P, Noreau L, Bergeron H, Cloutier R, Dion SA, St-Michel G. Social consequences of long term impairments and disabilities: conceptual approach and assessment of handicap. Int J of Rehab Res 1998;21:127-141.
• Noreau L, Fougeyrollas P, Vincent C. The LIFE-H: Assessment of the quality of social participation. Technology and Disability 2002;14:113-118.
• Noreau L, Fougeyrollas P. Long-term consequences of Spinal Cord Injury on social participation: The Occurrence of Handicap Situations. Disabil Rehabil 2000;22:170-180.