Functional Independence Measure: From 1 Different Sources
(FIM) a table recommended by the WHO for assessing the degree of whole-person disability, being particularly useful for judging the extent of recovery from serious injury. It has five grades, ranging from 0 (fully independent) to 4 (completely dependent).
The ability to perform an activity with no or little help from others, including having control over any assistance required rather than the physical capacity to do everything oneself.... independence
An instrument that estimates the extent to which a health care provider delivers clinical services that are appropriate for each patient’s condition; provides them safely, competently and in an appropriate time-frame; and achieves desired outcomes in terms of those aspects of patient health and patient satisfaction that can be affected by clinical services.... clinical performance measure
An imbalance of response, without permanent tissue damage, and generally reversible.... functional
See PSYCHOSOMATIC DISEASES.... functional diseases
The extent to which an individual is able to perform activities that are associated with the routines of daily living. See “activities of daily living”; and “instrumental activities of daily living”.... functional status
Individual outcome measure that extends beyond traditional measures of mortality and morbidity to include such dimensions as physiology, function, social activity, cognition, emotion, sleep and rest, energy and vitality, health perception and general life satisfaction (some of these are also known as health status, functional status or quality-of-life measures).... health-related quality-of-life (hrql) measure
The procedure of applying a standard scale to a variable or to a set of values.... measurement
The complete range of possible values for a measurement (e.g. the set of possible responses to a question, the physically possible range for a set of body weights). Measurement scales are sometimes classified into five major types, according to the quantitative character of the scale: dichotomous scale: One that arranges items into either of two mutually exclusive categories. nominal scale: Classification into unordered qualitative categories, such as race, religion, and country of birth, as measurements of individual attributes are purely nominal scales, as there is no inherent order to their categories. ordinal scale: Classification into ordered qualitative categories, such as social class, where the values have a distinct order, but their categories are qualitative in that there is no natural (numerical) distance between their possible values. interval scale: An (equal) interval involving assignment of values with a natural distance between them, so that a particular distance (interval) between two values in one region of the scale meaningfully represents the same distance between two values in another region of the scale. An example is date of birth. ratio scale: A ratio is an interval scale with a true zero point, so that ratios between values are meaningfully defined. Examples are weight, height, blood count and income, as in each case it is meaningful to speak of one value as being so many times greater or less than another.... measurement scale
See APPENDIX 6: MEASUREMENTS IN MEDICINE.... measures
System used to track treatment or care and responses. The methods for measuring outcomes are quite varied among providers. Much disagreement exists regarding the best practice or tools to utilize to measure outcomes.... outcome measurement
Methods or instruments to estimate or monitor the extent to which the actions of an individual practitioner or whole programme conform to practice standards of quality or allow comparisons between services.... performance measure or indicator
Measures which describe in words or diagrams rather than using numbers.... qualitative measures
Measures using numbers to attempt to measure what has occurred.... quantitative measures
The substitution of one measure for one that cannot be measured in the course of a study.... surrogate measure
A term for any illness in which there is no evidence of organic disturbance even though physical performance is impaired.... functional disorders
a condition in which a patient complains of symptoms for which no physical cause can be found. Such a condition is frequently an indication of a psychiatric disorder. Compare organic disorder.... functional disorder
(FESS) see endoscopic sinus surgery.... functional endoscopic sinus surgery
natural or processed foods that contain a known biologically active component that gives clinically proven health benefits in addition to the traditional nutrient value. For example, stanols and sterols added to margarine-type spreads lower cholesterol. See also prebiotics; probiotics.... functional foods
(fMRI) a type of *magnetic resonance imaging that measures the increased hemodynamic response seen with neural activity in the brain or spinal cord. fMRI has allowed major advances in brain mapping (i.e. matching sections of the brain with particular behaviours, thoughts, or emotions).... functional magnetic resonance imaging
an international index, published by the World Health Organization, that grades the degree of recovery after serious injury.... functional recovery index
see non-epileptic seizure.... functional seizure
a mainly US term for therapies instituted to save a patient’s life when all other options have failed. These may have serious or even fatal side-effects, but the risk is considered worth taking since the patient will surely otherwise die. Many people specify ‘no heroic measures’ in their *advance directive (‘living will’).... heroic measures
(PIP) a tax-free benefit replacing (from April 2013) *disability living allowance (DLA) for people aged 16–64 (DLA is still paid to children). It has two components – a daily living component (including help with washing, dressing, using the toilet, preparing and eating food, and taking medicines) and a mobility component (for help with walking).... personal independence payment
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