We're hiring! Browse jobs and apply today.
The SSAM was developed as a tool for measuring the senses of an unconscious patient over a long period of time. It is intended to assist in treatment planning and to address the demands of scientific research.
15
30 minutes
Initially reviewed by Erin Donnelly, PT, MSPT, NCS and the TBI EDGE task force of the Neurology Section of the APTA in 8/2012
Recommendations for use of the instrument from the Neurology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Multiple Sclerosis Taskforce (MSEDGE), Parkinson’s Taskforce (PD EDGE), Spinal Cord Injury Taskforce (PD EDGE), Stroke Taskforce (StrokEDGE), Traumatic Brain Injury Taskforce (TBI EDGE), and Vestibular Taskforce (Vestibular EDGE) are listed below. These recommendations were developed by a panel of research and clinical experts using a modified Delphi process.
For detailed information about how recommendations were made, please visit: ANPT Outcome Measures Recommendations (EDGE)
Abbreviations:
HR
Highly Recommend
R
Recommend
LS / UR
Reasonable to use, but limited study in target group / Unable to Recommend
NR
Not Recommended
Recommendations based on level of care in which the assessment is taken:
Acute Care
Inpatient Rehabilitation
Skilled Nursing Facility
Outpatient
Rehabilitation
Home Health
TBI EDGE
NR
LS
LS
NR
LS
Recommendations for use based on ambulatory status after brain injury:
Completely Independent
Mildly dependant
Moderately Dependant
Severely Dependant
TBI EDGE
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Recommendations for entry-level physical therapy education and use in research:
Students should learn to administer this tool? (Y/N)
Students should be exposed to tool? (Y/N)
Appropriate for use in intervention research studies? (Y/N)
Is additional research warranted for this tool (Y/N)
TBI EDGE
No
No
No
Not reported
According to the American Congress of Rehabilitation review of outcome measures, the expert panel concluded that the SSAM has well-defined administration and scoring procedures that facilitate consistent use (Seel et al, 2010). Overall, they recommend that the SSAM may be used to assess DOC with moderate reservations, because of concerns about possible bias in determining reliability (unblended assessors). This recommendation is supported by expert consensus that the SSAM has acceptable content validity and acceptable standardized administration and scoring procedures.
Do you see an error or have a suggestion for this instrument summary? Please e-mail us!
Traumatic Brain Injury, Anoxia, and Aneurym: (Rader and Ellis, 1994; n= 20; mean age= 31 (range 16-59); average time post injury= 12.4 months (range2-33 months))
Traumatic Brain Injury, Anoxia, and Aneurym: (Rader and Ellis, 1994)
Traumatic Brain Injury: (Rader and Ellis, 1994)
Traumatic Brain Injury: (Davis and Gimenez, 2003; n=12 individuals with severe TBI who were 3 or more days post injury with stable ICP and Rancho Level I-III, mean age 30, GCS 5.5 for intervention group (n=9), GCS 6 for control group (n=3))
Traumatic Brain Injury: (Rader and Ellis, 1994)
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, Brain Injury-Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group, Disorders of Consciousness Task Force, Seel, R.T., Sherer, M., Whyte, J., Katz, D.I., Giacino, J.T., Rosenbaum, A.M., Hammond, F.M., Kalmar, K., Pape, T.L., Zafonte, R., Biester, R.C., Kaelin, D., Kean, J., & Zasler, N. (2010). "Assessment scales for disorders of consciousness: evidence-based recommendations for clinical practice and research." Arch Phys Med Rehabil 91(12): 1795-1813. Find it on PubMed
Davis, A. E., & Gimenez, A. (2003). "Cognitive-behavioral recovery in comatose patients following auditory sensory stimulation." J Neurosci Nurs 35(4): 202-209, 214. Find it on PubMed
Rader, M. A., & Ellis, D. W. (1994). "The Sensory Stimulation Assessment Measure (SSAM): a tool for early evaluation of severely brain-injured patients." Brain Inj 8(4): 309-321. Find it on PubMed
We have reviewed more than 500 instruments for use with a number of diagnoses including stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury among several others.