Evaluating research in developmental disabilities: a conceptual framework for reviewing treatment outcomes

The study of developmental disabilities, not being confined to one medical field, poses a challenge in evaluating outcomes research. It is a multidisciplinary area of study which encompasses health-care, rehabilitation, psychosocial, educational, and biotechnology specialties and involves biological, social, and behavioral effects of intervention. Consequently, there is a lack of consistency in what has been studied, how the outcomes have been measured, and where these results have been recorded. Naturally, these disparate outcomes data need to be consolidated in such a way that comparison of treatments can be made, within and across professional disciplines. In an attempt to facilitate this, the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM) is committed to providing critical and useful appraisal of the scientific literature to help clinicians keep abreast in their own as well as other relevant disciplines'. The Academy has explored several classification systems to consolidate and interpret data, and has established a two-part conceptual framework (1) to aggregate treatment outcomes and construct evidence tables based on a model of disablement which classifies treatment outcomes by the dimension in which they have an effect; and (2) to determine the degree of confidence that can be placed in the scientific evidence available in support of an intervention.