[Evaluation of occupational performance in everyday life in addicted population. Development of a measuring instrument: the ADO].

Adicciones 23(1):27-35 (2011) PMID 21503561

Addiction is a complex disorder of brain function, which involves primarily the frontal cortex as a structure responsible for the organization of intentional behavior. The performance of everyday life activity is one of the key factors in assessing the impact of cognitive impairment. There are no validated instruments in Spanish applicable to addicts for assessing self-perceived efficacy in the performance of everyday activities. Based on the Occupational Self-Assessment, a questionnaire was developed for the exploration of: perceived level of performance quality, evaluation of competences and the influence of environment on performance. For the study, a sample of 425 non-clinical participants and 300 patients treated for substance addiction was used. The Occupational Performance Self- Report (ADO) has 37 items and showed adequate internal consistency (Alpha = 0.93, 0.75 and 0.87 for the subscales) and a stable structure in confirmatory factor analysis. The self-assessment of performance showed consistent correlation with dysexecutive symptoms in daily life (-0.54 < r < -0.66). The ADO emerges as a reliable and valid instrument for the exploration of self-perceived level of performance in the everyday lives of individuals with substance addiction, and may be useful for establishing treatment goals in conditions of high ecological validity.