ABSTRACT
This chapter is a comprehensive reference manual providing information on the London Handicap Scale (LHS), which evaluates hierarchical levels of functioning in six dimensions: Mobility, Physical independence, Occupation, Social integration, Orientation and Economic self-sufficiency. The LHS is designed to be self-administered, or completed by an informant. The development process of the LHS has resulted in an elegant and user-friendly instrument and it is one of the very few rating scales of participation designed to have interval-level measurement. The interval-level measurement, however, requires the application of weights, which Jenkinson et al. have argued is limiting and “adds little to the validity of the summary measure”. A brief history of the instrument's development is provided, along with a description of item content and administration/scoring procedures. Psychometric properties are reviewed and a critical commentary is provided. Key references are cited and in most cases the actual scale is included, giving the reader easy access to the instrument.
