Test of the Rehabilitation Goal Screening (ReGoS) Tool to Support Decision Making and Goal Setting in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Practice

Background: It has already been shown that it is feasible to use International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Sets as self-assessment instruments. We used this idea to design an ICF-based screening tool to assess patients of a broadly based rehabilitation department. It was developed for the purpose of having a screening tool before taking the anamnesis, as well as for rehabilitation planning and follow-up. Methods and Materials: The Rehabilitation Goal Screening (ReGoS) instrument is a self-report questionnaire which was developed based on the most relevant domains from the ICF Core Sets for chronic pain and rehabilitation. The ICF categories were translated into plain language and 0–10 Likert scales were used. A retrospective analysis of routine clinical data using the ReGoS tool, Work Ability Index (WAI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in paper- or tablet-based form was performed. Results: The average age of the N = 1.008 respondents was 53.9 years (SD = 16.2). Of the respondents, 66% ( n = 665) were female. At the time of the survey, 48.3% ( n = 487) of the patients were employed. ReGoS results demonstrated that the highest restrictions on a scale from 0 to 10 were found in the areas of energy and drive (M = 5.79, SD = 2.575) and activities of daily living (M = 5.54, SD = 2.778). More than a third of the respondents rated their work ability as critical. Conclusion: The use of the ReGoS instrument as an ICF-based screening tool based on a self-report questionnaire provides relevant information for clinical diagnosis, participative goal setting and a detailed functional capacity profile.