The Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) was originally designed as a measurement of community integration  for individuals with traumatic brain injury (Willer et al, 1994). The 15-item measure yields three subscales which examine Home Integration (e.g. Who does the grocery shopping at home? Who does the normal everyday housework?); Social Integration (e.g. Who looks after your personal finances?); and Productive Activities (e.g. Do you work/volunteer? How often?).  Scores for these domains are generated based on the frequency of engaging in roles and activities, and responses are weighted according to level of independence in performing roles and activities. The CIQ has recently been validated for use with SCI populations (Gontkovsky et al. 2009).

Procedure: The CIQ is a self report measure that can be completed via a computer, on the phone, by mail, or in person.  Subscales are summed to yield a total score for community integration ranging from 0-29, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of community integration.

Advantages:  The CIQ is simple and quick to administer and score. The three domains of the CIQ parallel the Craig Handicap Asssesment Reporting Technique – Short Form (CHART-SF), a common measure of community integration in the SCI population.

Limitations:Reliability and responsiveness of the CIQ have not been evaluated in the SCI population. The CIQ lacks the ability to assess economic aspects of integration; there were no correlations between the CHART-SF Economic Self-Sufficiency domain and the CIQ (Gontkovsky et al, 2009). The CIQ was not originally developed for the SCI population and has only one study assessing the CIQ among the SCI population.

Interpretability:  Three items relating to employment, school and volunteer activities are scored on a 6-point scale, and the other 12-items are scored on a 3-point scale. The response scales inquire about frequency and level of independence for each activity, with higher responses indicative of higher frequency or independence. Subscales scores maybe summed together to generate a total score between 0-29; higher scores indicate higher levels of community integration (Willer et al, 1994). Individual domain scores of the CIQ allow the clinician to determine where individuals are succeeding or struggling in re-integration after injury.

Acceptability: The CIQ may be completed in less than 15 minutes. If the individual is unable to answer the questions, a person close to the individual can complete the questionnaire on his/her behalf. Respondent burden is minimal especially given the several ways to complete the questionnaire. The CIQ has been validated for use in the chronic spinal cord injured population and appears to only be available in English. .

Feasibility: No training is required to administer or score the CIQ. Administration and scoring are done via established standardized procedures. The original scale and scoring guide is available from Barry Willer of State University of New York. A copy of the CIQ can be found in Willer et al. 1994.

Clinical Summary: The CIQ was originally developed because of a recognition that community integration is a priority during rehabilitation. The CIQ was developed by 14 experts to look at integration after a traumatic brain injury. Scores on the CIQ indicate the level of community integration. Low scores would suggest a need for strategies to help with community integration. Additional evaluations are warranted to assess the subjective aspects of community integration, such as a person’s desire to engage in activities and how satisfied a person is with the activities they are engaged in.

Psychometric Summary:

Note: +++ = Excellent; ++ = Adequate; + = Poor.

References

• Gontkovsky et al. Comparison of the CIQ and CHART short form in assessing community integration in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury: A pilot study. NeuroRehabilitation 2009; 24:185-192.
• Willer et al. The Community Integration Questionnaire: A comparative Examination. Am. J. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 1994 103-110.