Good Validity (good + validity)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The Sleep and Settle Questionnaire for parents of infants: Psychometric properties

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 5 2001
S Matthey
Objective: To determine the psychometric properties of a parent-report questionnaire (Sleep and Settle Questionnaire (SSQ)) assessing: (i) the infant's sleep and settling behaviour, and (ii) the parent's level of concern with such behaviours. Methodology: Test-retest reliability was determined by administering the SSQ to 20 mothers on two occasions, 7,14 days apart. Validity was determined by comparing SSQ responses between mothers with 6-week-old infants who, on a semistructured questionnaire, reported no sleep or settling difficulties (n = 56,60) with those who reported they were experiencing difficulties (n = 133). Further comparison was made with a sample of mothers (n = 34,36) attending a community class on sleep and settling difficulties with infants. Sensitivity to change was determined by comparing mothers' SSQ responses at 6-weeks and 6-months postpartum. Results: The SSQ was found to have low test,retest reliability on items referring to the infants' sleep and settling behaviour, but moderate reliability for the extent that such behaviour bothered the parent. Comparison across the different samples showed good discriminant and concurrent validity. Conclusions: Parental reports on the SSQ indicates that over a short period (1,2 weeks) the infants' sleep and settling behaviour can change considerably, but that the extent to which such behaviour bothers the parent is more stable. Good validity demonstrates the SSQ is sensitive to differing infant behaviour. It is recommended as both a clinical and research instrument, and could be used to complement assessments focusing on the parent's psychosocial adjustment in the early postpartum period. [source]


Severity of anxiety and work-related outcomes of patients with anxiety disorders

DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 12 2009
Steven R. Erickson PharmD.
Abstract Background: This study examined associations between anxiety and work-related outcomes in an anxiety disorders clinic population, examining both pretreatment links and the impact of anxiety change over 12 weeks of treatment on work outcomes. Four validated instruments were used to also allow examination of their psychometric properties, with the goal of improving measurement of work-related quality of life in this population. Methods: Newly enrolled adult patients seeking treatment in a university-based anxiety clinic were administered four work performance measures: Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ), Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI), Endicott Work Productivity Scale (EWPS), and Functional Status Questionnaire Work Performance Scale (WPS). Anxiety severity was determined using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The Clinical Global Impressions, Global Improvement Scale (CGI-I) was completed by patients to evaluate symptom change at a 12-week follow-up. Two severity groups (minimal/mild vs. moderate/severe, based on baseline BAI score) were compared to each other on work measures. Results: Eighty-one patients provided complete baseline data. Anxiety severity groups did not differ in job type, time on job, job satisfaction, or job choice. Patients with greater anxiety generally showed lower work performance on all instruments. Job advancement was impaired for the moderate/severe group. The multi-item performance scales demonstrated better validity and internal consistency. The WLQ and the WPAI detected change with symptom improvement. Conclusion: Level of work performance was generally associated with severity of anxiety. Of the instruments tested, the WLQ and the WPAI questionnaire demonstrated acceptable validity and internal reliability. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Perceived parental rearing in subjects with obsessive,compulsive disorder and their siblings

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2010
L. Lennertz
Lennertz L, Grabe HJ, Ruhrmann S, Rampacher F, Vogeley A, Schulze-Rauschenbach S, Ettelt S, Meyer K, Kraft S, Reck C, Pukrop R, John U, Freyberger HJ, Klosterkötter J, Maier W, Falkai P, Wagner M. Perceived parental rearing in subjects with obsessive,compulsive disorder and their siblings. Objective:, Perceived parenting in patients suffering from obsessive,compulsive disorder (OCD) is examined. We attempted to overcome some methodological limitations of prior studies by taking age of onset, parental OCD and comorbid depression into consideration. In addition, we included data from unaffected siblings to corroborate information on parental rearing. Method:, One hundred and twenty-two cases with OCD and 41 of their siblings as well as 59 healthy controls and 45 of their siblings completed the German short-version of the EMBU (FEE). Results:, Obsessive,compulsive disorder cases reported less parental warmth and more parental rejection and control. Further analyses indicated that parenting is also associated with OCD in cases with late onset and cases without parents affected by OCD. OCD cases with comorbid depression described their parents particularly negatively. Data from siblings indicated good validity of perceived parenting in OCD. Conclusion:, This study provides further evidence for dysfunctional child rearing being relevant to the development of OCD and depression. [source]


Improving the K6 short scale to predict serious emotional disturbance in adolescents in the USA

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue S1 2010
Jennifer Greif Green
Abstract Effective screening for emotional and behavioral disorders among youth requires brief screening scales with good validity to identify youth requiring further evaluation and to estimate prevalence of target disorders in populations of interest such as schools or neighborhoods. This paper examines the psychometric properties of a very short (six-item) screening scale, the K6, to assess serious emotional disturbance (SED) among youth. The K6, which is made up of symptoms of depression and anxiety, has been shown in previous research to be a strong predictor of serious mental illness (SMI) in adults, but no information is available on the ability of the scale to screen for SED among youth. The current report examines the K6 as a screen for SED in a national survey of US adolescents, the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). The K6 is shown to provide fairly good prediction of SED [area under curve (AUC) = 0.74] that is somewhat higher for internalizing (AUC = 0.80) than behavior (AUC = 0.75) disorders. Based on this result, we augmented the K6 with questions about symptoms of behavior disorders. This improved prediction of SED (from AUC = 0.74 to AUC = 0.83) as well as of SED associated with pure behavior disorders (from AUC = 0.53 to AUC = 0.78). These results show that although the symptoms of depression and anxiety in the K6 are sufficient to detect SMI among adults, high rates of behavior disorders among adolescents require indicators of behavior disorders to be added to the K6 to screen adequately for adolescent SED. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Development and evaluation of the quality of life instrument in chronic liver disease patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy

JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Ying-qun Zhou
Abstract Objectives:, The objective was to develop a valid and reliable health-related quality of life (HRQOL) assessment tool to measure the functional and health status of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (mHE). Methods:, Items potentially affecting the HRQOL of these patients were identified, based on the responses from 53 patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy, from seven liver experts, four epidemiologists and from a PubMed search of the literature. Results were explored using factor analysis and redundant questions were eliminated. The final stated questionnaire was used in 178 patients with mHE to evaluate its reliability and validity. Results:, Thirty-five items proved to be important for 32 respondents in the item reduction sample. The final instrument included five domains (30 items) which were shown as follows: physical functioning (8 items), psychological well-being (7 items), symptoms/side effects (7 items), social functioning (4 items) and general-health (4 items). An inter-item correlation for each of the five domains ranged from 0.220 to 0.776, with a mean of 0.280. Cronbach's alpha for above five domains was 0.8775, 0.8446, 0.8360, 0.7087 and 0.7016 respectively. The test-retest coefficients for the five domains were 0.94, 0.93, 0.96, 0.82 and 0.83 respectively. Factor analysis showed preservation of five components structure. Cumulative variance of principal components was 63.12%. Patients with more advanced disease seemed to have more impairment of their well-being, especially in the symptoms/side effects domain. Conclusions:, The instrument is short, easy to administer and is of good validity and reliability in patients with mHE. [source]


Coronary heart disease knowledge tool for women

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, Issue 2 2010
ACNP-BC, ANP-BC, Coordinator of Adult Nurse Practitioner Program), DCC (Associate Professor, Joanne L. Thanavaro DNP
Purpose: To develop a tool that measures coronary heart disease (CHD) knowledge specifically for women. Data sources: The new CHD knowledge tool, based on previous surveys of women's CHD knowledge, has 25 multiple-choice questions. An expert panel evaluated content and face validity. The tool was pilot tested in women without CHD, who were admitted to a Chest Pain Center. The tool was subsequently administered to laywomen and female cardiovascular nurses to evaluate its validity and reliability. The sample included 49 women as the control group (Group 1), 23 cardiovascular nurses as a known group (Group 2), and 22 women with an educational program as the treatment group (Group 3). Knowledge of women in Group 1 was compared with Groups 2 and 3 in known group and predictive validity tests. Conclusion: The new tool demonstrates good validity and reliability to measure CHD knowledge in women. Implications for practice: Women continue to have low CHD knowledge, and nurse practitioners should provide education to improve women's CHD knowledge as a strategy to promote healthy lifestyle practices and CHD risk prevention. The new tool can be utilized in future research to measure women's CHD knowledge. [source]


Relationship between various clinical outcome assessments in patients with blepharospasm,

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 3 2009
Joseph Jankovic MD
Abstract The objective was to analyze the metric properties of the Jankovic Rating Scale (JRS) and a self-rating patient response outcome scale, the Blepharospasm Disability Index (BSDI©), in blepharospasm patients. Data from a randomized, double-blind, active-control clinical trial in 300 patients with blepharospasm treated with either botulinum toxin type A (Botox®) or NT201 (Xeomin®) were used to evaluate the metric properties of the JRS and the BSDI compared with the Patient Evaluation of Global Response (PEGR) and Global Assessment Scale (GAS). The internal consistency of the BSDI was high, Cronbach's Alpha = 0.88, and the retest reliability of the BSDI single items was adequate, Spearman's rank coefficient = 0.453 < r < 0.595. The correlation between JRS sum score and BSDI weighted mean score was r = 0.487 (baseline) and r = 0.737 (control visit), respectively. Using the GAS and PEGR, the results suggest that a change of 2 points in the JRS and of 0.7 points in the BSDI are clinically meaningful. JRS and BSDI are objective indicators of clinical efficacy as suggested by their good validity when compared with physicians' and patients' rating scales. Both, JRS and BSDI, can be used to reliably assess blepharospasm in treatment trials. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society [source]


The reliability and validity of patient self-rating of their own voice quality

CLINICAL OTOLARYNGOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
M. Lee
Objectives:, To provide preliminary data on the reliability and validity of dysphonic patients rating their own voice quality. Design:, Prospective reliability/validity assessment of voice ratings in dysphonic patients. Setting:, The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Primary Care Trust. Participants:, Thirty-five adult dysphonia patients recruited from ENT referrals to a speech and language therapy department. Exclusion criteria were (i) a hearing impairment which may affect auditory discrimination and (ii) a diagnosis of cognitive impairment which may affect task comprehension. Main outcome measures:, Patient intra-rater reliability was assessed by test,retest ratings, using G (Grade), R (Rough), B (Breathy), A (Asthenic), S (Strained) (GRBAS). Validity was assessed by comparing (i) patient,clinician inter-rater reliability, (ii) patients' GRBAS ratings with their Vocal Performance Questionnaire (VPQ) responses. Result:, (i) Patients had lower intrarater reliability than clinicians (for G of GRBAS, kappa = 0.51 versus 0.74); (ii) patients consistently rated their voices more severely than clinicians (for G of GRBAS, mean rating = 1.4 versus 1.0); (iii) clinician,patient inter-rater agreement was no better than chance (paired t -test, all P < 0.05); (iv) patient ratings correlated significantly with vocal performance scores (r > 0.4, P < 0.05). Conclusions:, Patients appear to have good validity and consistency using GRBAS as a self-perception tool. However, validity measured in terms of agreement with clinician ratings is poor. Voice patients may rate what they perceive rather than what they hear. Disagreement between patient and clinician ratings has implications for therapy aims, prognosis, patient expectations and outcomes. Where disagreement persists, the clinician may have to determine whether therapy priorities need redesigning to reflect patients' perceived needs, or to evaluate whether patient perceptions and expectations are unrealistic. [source]