GOAL-LD™

Development and Sensibility Evaluation for the Gait Outcomes Assessment List Module for Children with Lower Limb Differences (GOAL-LD™)

Functional evaluation of children with lower limb differences (LDs) is limited due to a lack of appropriate outcome measures for this population. This study developed a module of the Gait Outcomes Assessment List (GOAL™) questionnaire that is specific and sensible for use with children with LDs (GOAL-LD™).  An iterative adaptation and sensibility evaluation of the GOAL, initially developed for use with ambulatory children with cerebral palsy (CP), was informed by field-testing this questionnaire with children having an LD and their parents, conducting cognitive interviews with these children, and administering an e-Survey to healthcare professionals. Items related to basic activities of daily living and independence were eliminated as they had a ceiling effect despite modifications to make them more challenging.  Items related to pain/discomfort/fatigue, and body image/self-esteem were the highest priority items across all versions of the questionnaire. Ultimately 22 of the original 50 GOAL items were retained, 16 modified, and six new items added in the final questionnaire iteration (GOAL-LD™ 2.0). This study supports the GOAL-LD™ 2.0 as a promising new outcome measure for comprehensively evaluating the function and priorities of children with LDs, for both research and clinical purposes. Learn more about the GOAL-LD project.

Questionnaire

A watermarked version of the GOAL-LD™ questionnaire can be provided upon request, however, please note that validation work is ongoing.

GOAL-LD Versions 

  • English: validation in progress

Primary Contributors

  • Jennifer Dermott (English)

Contact us if you are interested in culturally adapting and translating the GOAL-LD™ in your language.

Translation Guidelines

Please find a PDF of the translation guidelines here. Further readings regarding culturally adapting questionnaires:

Registration

An online version of the GOAL-LD™ through the REDCap database system is also available. If you are interested in using the online version, please register for a license and indicate your preference for the online version in the User Profile Form.

Manual

The GOAL-LD™ Manual and Interpretation Guide is being developed. The manual will provide information about the development and validation of the GOAL-LD™ and will describe the use and scoring of the questionnaire.

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by research funding from:

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