Introduction to the Participation Objective, Participation Subjective (POPS)

The POPS was developed in 2004 at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM), New York NY. It is a product of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on TBI Interventions, a NIDRR-funded project (H133B040033), to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, MSSM.

The POPS consists of a list of 26 “items”, which are elements of participation (e.g., going to the movies, housework, opportunities to meet new people). For each item, two types of questions are asked. The first is an objective question, e.g., how often in a typical month do you go to the movies. The second two questions asked of each item are subjective: How important is this to your well being? Are you satisfied with your current level of participation, or would you like to be doing more or be doing less?

The 26 items are sorted into five categories: Domestic Life; Major Life Activities; Transportation; Interpersonal Interactions and Relationships; and Community, Recreational and Civic Life.

The POPS was developed within the context of traumatic brain injury, but was not specifically aimed at that population. Its content is neutral, in the sense that items refer to activities engaged in normatively, and their inclusion is not based on relevance to a specific disability group. The POPS takes 10-20 minutes to administer.

Information regarding the POPS was contributed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Please contact Margaret Brown, Ph.D., at for more information.

If you find the information in the COMBI useful, please mention it when citing sources of information. The information on the POPS may be cited as:

Brown, M. (2006). Participation Objective, Participation Subjective. The Center for Outcome Measurement in Brain Injury. http://www.tbims.org/combi/pops ( accessed ).