Assessing the development of daily living skills in patients with spina bifida.

The development of independence in daily living skills of 256 patients with spina bifida was assessed by means of a new Functional Activities scoring system. The score was derived from nine categories of activity; five are to do with self-care, three with locomotion and one with social interaction. The reasons for the variation in achievement between individuals with the same degree of paralysis are discussed, as are the differences in learning curves for single activities. The scoring system enables a quantitative assessment to be made of the current status of an individual patient, and enables more realistic therapeutic goals to be set.