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Context In order to examine the multi-dimensional nature of dyspnea and its impact on the activities of daily living (ADLs) in patients with cardio-respiratory and cancer diseases, validated measures are needed. Objectives Our aim was to identify all the multi-dimensional clinical scales assessing dyspnea and its impact on ADLs in patients with cardio-respiratory and cancer diseases, and to critically appraise their psychometric properties. Methods Five databases were systematically searched up to July 2020. Eligible criteria were: the examination of at least one psychometric property, and the recruitment of adults with a cardio-respiratory or cancer disease in non-emergency settings. The characteristics and psychometric properties of the studies included were presented through a narrative synthesis. The methodological quality of the studies and evidence synthesis were rated using the “COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN)” criteria. Results Forty-three studies, for which eight assessment scales had been identified, were included in the review. At the time of the review, three multi-dimensional assessment scales were available for assessing dyspnea symptoms, and five multi-dimensional scales were available to examine the impact of dyspnea on ADLs. Although the use of these scales has rapidly grown, evidence of psychometric properties has been reported as limited in most of the scales. Conclusion Despite the potential of the identified scales, further studies are needed to strength evidence on the validity and reliability of the multi-dimensional dyspnea scales. Furthermore, more studies appraising the content validity and responsiveness of the scales are specifically recommended.

This study developed a scale for evaluating how well students understand marine-resource conservation and sustainability; it evaluated the scale’s psychometric properties and investigated the gende...

A total of 60% of people with a spinal cord injury are completely dependent on a wheelchair. There is a wide variety of instruments that assess wheelchair skills, but they are not specific for this population. OBJECTIVE: To identify, assess, compare and summarize the psychometric properties of instruments that assess wheelchair skills in persons with a spinal cord injury. A systematic review was conducted and observational instruments were included that assessed wheelchair skills in persons with spinal cord injury. Eleven articles were identified that evaluated eight instruments. Most of them reported activities according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Reliability was the most frequently evaluated psychometric property. The Queensland Evaluation of Wheelchair Skills and the Adapted Manual Wheelchair Circuit had the best degrees of confidence in the evidence, and their application could guide the selection of pertinent therapeutic strategies. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020161430.

CME/CNE InformationActivity Available Online: To access the article, post-test, and evaluation online, go to http://www.cmscscholar.org.Target Audience: The target audience for this activity is physicians, physician assistants, nursing professionals, and other health care providers involved in the management of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).Learning Objectives: 1) Differentiate between measurement tools for clinical walking capacity and for real-world performance. 2) Describe discrepancies between performance on a walking capacity test and real-world performance, and how these discrepancies vary between patients with high versus low walking capacity.Accreditation Statement:In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) and Delaware Media Group. The CMSC is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.Physician Credit: The CMSC designates this journal-based activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.Nurse Credit: The CMSC designates this enduring material for 1.0 contact hour (none in the area of pharmacology).Disclosures: Francois Bethoux, MD, Editor in Chief of the International Journal of MS Care (IJMSC), has served as Physician Planner for this activity. He has disclosed relationships with Springer Publishing (royalty), Qr8 (receipt of intellectual property rights/patent holder), Biogen (receipt of intellectual property rights/patent holder, speakers’ bureau), GW Pharma (consulting fee), BioRhythms (consulting fee, contracted research), and Adamas Pharmaceuticals (contracted research). Laurie Scudder, DNP, NP, has served as Reviewer for this activity. She has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Kedar K.V. Mate, PhD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Nancy E. Mayo, PhD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. One peer reviewer for IJMSC has disclosed a relationship with Biogen (advisory board consultant, fee paid to institution); the other peer reviewer has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. The staff at IJMSC, CMSC, and Delaware Media Group who are in a position to influence content have disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Note: Financial relationships may have changed in the interval between listing these disclosures and publication of the article.Method of Participation:Release Date: June 1, 2020Valid for Credit Through: June 1, 2021In order to receive CME/CNE credit, participants must: 1) Review the continuing education information, including learning objectives and author disclosures.2) Study the educational content.3) Complete the post-test and evaluation, which are available at http://www.cmscscholar.orgStatements of Credit are awarded upon successful completion of the post-test with a passing score of >70% and the evaluation. There is no fee to participate in this activity.Disclosure of Unlabeled Use: This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not approved by the FDA. CMSC and Delaware Media Group do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications. The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of CMSC or Delaware Media Group.Disclaimer: Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any medications, diagnostic procedures, or treatments discussed in this publication should not be used by clinicians or other health care professionals without first evaluating their patients’ conditions, considering possible contraindications or risks, reviewing any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparing any therapeutic approach with the recommendations of other authorities.

Objectives: The misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD) as major depressive disorder (MDD) is common in depressed older adults. The self-rated HCL-33 and its external assessment version (HCL-33-EA) have been developed to screen for hypomanic symptoms. This study compared the screening ability of these two instruments to discriminate BD from MDD.Methods: A total of 215 patients (107 with BD and 108 with MDD) and their carers were recruited. Patients and their carers completed the HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA, respectively. The consistency of the total score and the positive response to each item between the two scales was calculated with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cohen's kappa coefficient separately. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were drawn for both instruments. The optimal cut-off points were determined according to the maximum Youden's Index. The areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of the HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA were calculated separately and compared. The sensitivity and specificity at the optimal cut-off values were also calculated separately for the HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA.Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the total scores of the HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA was 0.823 (95% CI = 0.774–0.862). The positive response rate on all items showed high agreement between the two instruments. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the total scores of both HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA differentiated well between MDD and BD, while there was no significant difference in the AUCs between the two scales (Z = 0.422, P = 0.673). The optimal cutoff values for the HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA were 14 and 12, respectively. With the optimal cutoff value, the sensitivities of the HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA were 88.8% and 93.5%, and their specificities were 82.4% and 79.6%.Conclusion: Both the HCL-33 and HCL-33-EA had good screening ability for discriminating BD from MDD in depressed older adults.

This study has been carried out with FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Economia y Conocimiento/Proyecto B-SEJ-516-UGR18 funds., We really appreciate the support of our colleagues from the Profesiolab SEJ059 UGR Group., The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) is an instrument developed to assess the cognitive strategies of emotional regulation used by people after experiencing a negative event. The present study aimed to validate the Spanish version of the CERQ in students of the University of Granada (Spain) during the Covid-19 homebound. An online scale was developed and applied based on the Spanish version of the CERQ-S36, consisting of 36 items structured around nine cognitive strategies. Using a mixed sampling, the scale was applied to 450 students from different degree programmes. Regarding the psychometric results of the scale, firstly, in relation to reliability as internal consistency, we found that the scale applied to University students in a Covid-19 setting is highly stable. Secondly, in reference to concurrent criterion validity, we can conclude that the items individually measure the same as the total scale (taken as internal criterion), and thirdly and finally, in relation to construct validation, the two factor analyses implemented, one exploratory and the other confirmatory in nature, conform a factor structure of latent dimensions identical to the original one. In conclusion, the results obtained as a whole suggest that the CERQ-S36 scale could be useful for assessing cognitive coping in University populations in times of crisis. In situations such as the current global emergency due to the presence of Covid-19, the scale is useful for understanding emotional regulation strategies. More studies should be carried out with this scale to find out how emotions influence and what consequences they have on the health and psychological functioning of University students in times of social crisis., FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Economia y Conocimiento/Proyecto B-SEJ-516-UGR18

Background: Despite studies about anxiety in the older adult, the prevalence of anxiety in this age group is not exactly clear, which may be due to the use of tools and criteria that were not born for this age group. One of the instruments designed to assess anxiety in the elderly is the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI). The aim of this research was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI-PV) and its short form (GAI-PV-SF) in a sample of older adults in Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 150 community-dwelling and a psychogeriatric sample of 48 adults older than 60 years completed the GAI-PV and GAI-PV-SF, the anxiety sub-scale of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Different types of validity and reliability were evaluated for GAI-PV and GAI-PV-SF using SPSS and the LISREL software. Results: Both the GAI-PV and GAI-PV-SF exhibited excellent internal consistency (over 80 %) and desirable concurrent validity against GHQ-28 and GDS-15. The optimal cutpoint score to detect current generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was 10/11 and 13/14 for GAI-PV in the community-dwelling and psychogeriatric samples, respectively, and 3/4 for GAI-PV-SF in both study samples. Good test-retest reliability (correlation coefficient: 0.96 and 0.88 for GAI-PV and GAI-PV-SF, respectively) and a single-factor structure were also demonstrated. Conclusion: Sound psychometric properties of the GAI-PV in both subsamples suggest that the instrument could be used successfully as an accurate screening instrument in the elderly Iranian population.

The specific aims of the present study were twofold: (i) to examine the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the 17-item Benefit Finding Scale (BFS-C), and (ii) to explore the experienced benefits in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors and their spousal caregivers (SCs). A total of 286 CRC survivors and SCs participated in the investigation, which assessed participant variables of demographic characteristics and benefit finding (BF). Statistical methods applied were confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Cronbach’s α, Pearson’s correlation, Kappa coefficient, paired t-tests, and one-way ANOVAs. CFA analysis supported a three-factor model for structure validity. All Cronbach’s α for BFS-C was greater than 0.870 in both CRC survivors and SCs. The test–retest correlations at the scale level ranged from good to excellent for CRC survivors (r = 0.752–0.922), and from moderate to good for SCs (r = 0.469–0.654). There were moderate to high correlations between CRC survivors and SCs in all of the paired BFs (all Ps &lt, 0.001, r = 0.332–0.575). This report provided the satisfactory psychometric properties of the BFS-C in such aspects as construct validity, internal, and test–retest reliability among couples coping with CRC in China. Healthcare professionals need to treat couples as a unit and develop dyadic interventions to improve dyadic BF when supporting CRC survivors.

Introduction: Epilepsy is a neurological condition in which child has a recurrent seizure. It results in imbalance of neurotransmitter. It has an impact on various aspects of a child like physical, social, behaviour, psychological and intellectual. Epilepsy is one of the common disease which present among children. Existing Quality of Life (QOL) tool do not cover the issues significant to Indian children. Aim: To develop a QOL tool for children diagnosed with epilepsy. Materials and Methods: This study was a sequential exploratory mixed method study. It included qualitative and quantitative study. In qualitative phase, the information was collected by using in-depth interview of participants. Interview data were analysed by using conventional content analysis method and themes, subthemes were created. On the basis of it, a pool of items for the questionnaire was developed. In quantitative phase, psychometric property of the questionnaire was evaluated by using face, content and constructs validity. The reliability of tool assessed by internal consistency and Cronbach’s alpha. Total 15 and 20 subjects were involved in qualitative and quantitative phase respectively. Results: Qualitative method consist of 3 steps- in-depth review of literature, participant’s interview and expert opinion. At the end of phase I, a draft of 84 questionnaires as item pool generation developed. In phase 2, an expert panel reviewed 84 items for relevance, language, wording and duplication. 30 items were deleted on the basis of expert opinion, Item Content Validity Index (I-CVI) and Scale Content Validity Index (S-CVI). Now, 54 items were administered to 20 participants. Based on the participants responses investigator draw a scree plot based on eigen value of above 1. These 5 domains explained 76.42 % of the total variance. Total 9 items were deleted from pool of 54 items on the basis of item total correlation coefficient and inter-item correlation. Final 45 items were classified as per specific domain. The final draft had a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.876. Conclusion: Majority of QOL tool are not applicable to Indian population due to geographical and cultural differences. So the aim of this study was to develop a tool which benefited to Indian population. In this study, the final draft consists of 5 components with 45 items as per analysis. This newly developed tool will help the health care provider to assess the QOL of epileptic children.

Altered cognition or hemiparesis can occur in neurocritical but conscious patients, and recognizing pain is challenging. This study aimed to test the reliability and validity of the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) in this specific group.This prospective study included ventilated, conscious patients who had certain neurologic deficits. CPOT scores were assessed before and after nociceptive (turning the patient) and non-nociceptive (measuring body temperature) procedures. The patients' self-reported pain was also recorded using a numerical rating scale (NRS).Sixty-three patients were enrolled. The intraclass correlation coefficient was r = 0.975-1.000 (p0.001) for turning the patient. Discriminant validation indicated that CPOT scores were significantly higher after turning the patient compared with measuring body temperature (p = 0.025). CPOT scores were positively correlated with NRS when turning the patient (r = 0.724, p0.001). After turning, the mean increase in CPOT score was lower in the patients with hemiparesis than in those without hemiparesis (p = 0.079), however it was significantly higher in the patients with cognitive dysfunction compared to those without cognitive dysfunction (p = 0.022).The CPOT is an appropriate instrument to assess pain in conscious patients, particularly those with cognitive dysfunction. The influence of hemiparesis on the CPOT is noteworthy.

Purpose The aim was to investigate the measurement properties of the EQ-5D-5L utility index in patients after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (RCR), total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) or thumb carpometacarpal (CMC I) arthroplasty. Methods In this prospective study, all patients completed the EQ-5D-5L before surgery and 6 months and 1 year after surgery. In addition, RCR patients completed the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), TSA patients completed the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) and CMC I patients completed the brief Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (brief MHQ) at each designated time point. Construct validity (Pearson’s correlation coefficient, r), responsiveness (effect size), minimal important difference (MID), minimal important change (MIC), and floor and ceiling effects of the EQ-5D-5L were determined. To test discriminative ability, EQ-5D-5L utility indices of patients who were in a patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) or not at follow-up were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test. Results We included 153 RCR, 150 TSA, and 151 CMC I patients. The EQ-5D-5L utility index correlated with the OSS (r = 0.73), SPADI (r = − 0.65) and brief MHQ (r = 0.61). The effect sizes were 1.3 (RCR and CMC I group) and 1.1 (TSA). The MID and MIC ranged from 0.027 to 0.209. Ceiling effects were found. The EQ-5D-5L utility index differed significantly between patients being in a PASS versus patients who were not in a PASS. Conclusion The EQ-5D-5L utility index shows good construct validity, responsiveness and discriminative ability in patients after arthroscopic RCR, TSA and CMC I arthroplasty and is suitable to quantify quality of life. Clinical trial registration: This auxiliary analysis is part of a primary study that was originally registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01954433) on October 1, 2013.

Background. It is a challenge to characterize the consciousness level of patients with severe disturbance of consciousness and predict their prognosis effectively for Chinese doctors. We aimed to investigate the psychometric property and the diagnostic practicality of severe disturbance of consciousness by Chinese Nanjing persistent vegetative state scale (CNPVSS) which was first set up in 1996 and modified in 2001 and 2011. Methods. The concurrent validity, inter-rater consistency and diagnostic accuracy of CNPVSS and Chinese version of coma recovery scale-revised (CRS-R) were investigated by assessment of 380 patients with severe disorders of consciousness. Results. Total scores of the CNPVSS were correlated significantly with that of the CRS-R, indicating acceptable concurrent validity. Sub-scale analysis showed moderate to high inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability. CNPVSS was superior to CRS-R on the diagnosis sensitivity. The CNPVSS was able to distinguish 65 patients in emergence from minimal consciousness state who were misclassified as in minimal consciousness state (MCS) by the CRS-R, and it could also distinguish two patients in MCS who were misclassified as in vegetative state by the CRS-R. Conclusion. The CNPVSS is an appropriate measurement and is sensitive to distinguish the MCS patients from the VS patients.

Background: Sleep disturbance is a major health issue in people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) has been the most widely used instrument to measure subjective sleep disturbance. Nevertheless, its factor structure in the context of T2DM has not been examined. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the factor structure of the PSQI in Chinese adults with T2DM and thereby to facilitate its use in clinical practice and research. Methods: The PSQI (Chinese version) was administered to 240 patients with T2DM. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the one-factor, adapted one-factor by removing the component “use of sleep medication”, and the three-factor structure of the PSQI. Goodness-of-fit indices were used to evaluate the fit of the model. Construct validity of the resultant model was further examined using contrasted groups. Cronbach’s α of the resultant model was obtained to evaluate its internal consistency. Results: The three-factor model proposed by Cole et al. did not fit the sleep data. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the adapted one-factor model with the PSQI global score as an indicator of overall sleep quality, and the goodness-of-fit indices for the adapted model were better compared to the original one-factor model. As expected, women, older adults, and patients with poor glycemic control had higher adapted PSQI global score (p < 0.01). Cronbach’s α of the adapted PSQI was 0.78. Conclusion: The adapted PSQI was similar to the original PSQI in that only the component “use of sleep medication” was removed from the original scale and the one-factor scoring worked better. In contrast, the three-factor model has limited usefulness in this population.

Resilience, characterized by an ability to bounce back or recover from stress, is increasingly recognized as a psychometric property affecting many outcomes' domains including quality of life, suicide risk in active-duty military personnel, and recovery in cancer patients. This study examines the correlation between resilience, as measured by the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and traditional outcome scores including the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE), and Penn scores in patients undergoing total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA).Seventy patients undergoing primary anatomic TSA were followed up for a minimum of 2 years (mean, 30 ± 3 months). Patients were stratified into groups a priori, based on deviation from the mean of the BRS score, into low-resilience (LR), normal-resilience (NR), and high-resilience (HR) patients, and outcome scores were calculated for each group.Postoperative BRS scores significantly correlated with ASES, Penn, and SANE scores (r = 0.41-0.44, P .004 for all scores). When we evaluated patients based on resilience group, the LR group had a Penn score that was 34 points lower than that in the HR group. Likewise, the LR group had a SANE score that averaged 40 points lower than that in the HR group (SANE score of 53 points in LR group and 92 points in HR group, P = .05). When we evaluated ASES subscores, it appeared that the pain subscale was responsible for most of the difference between the LR and HR groups (29 points and 48 points [out of 50 points], respectively; P = .03).Resilience is a major predictor of postoperative outcomes after TSA. Patients who are classified as having LR have outcome scores that are 30 to 40 points lower on traditional outcome scales than patients with HR.

This study aims at examining the agreement level between clinical diagnoses by a senior psychologist in the hospital and diagnoses/screening on Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire conducted by parents. Using ICD 10 (Indonesian version) as the gold standard, a clinical child psychologist diagnosed 253 male and female elementary school children aged 7-14 years old. Parents of the same children were requested to fill-out the SDQ questionnaire (SDQ-PR). Psychometric property of SDQ-PR was analyzed using Alpha Cronbach and Principal Axis Factoring Analysis. Screening quality of SDQ-PR was examined using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC), Likelihood Ratio (LR+ and LR-), and Chi-square. Reliabilities of SDQ-PR in all subscales were (α = 0.562 to α = 0.684) except subscale of peer-problem (α = 0.174). Different from the original version of SDQ-PR that consists of 5 subscales, this study revealed 8 subscales. LR and ROC analyses for hyperkinetic revealed LR+ = 1.84 and LR– = 0.51, sensitivity = 67.6% and specificity = 63.3% with cut-off score ≥ 6. For behavior disorder, the LR+ = 2.3, LR- = 0.42, sensitivity = 70.96%, and specificity = 69.15% with cut-off score ≥ 4. As for behavior disorder the LR+ = 1.07, LR- = 0.94, sensitivity = 50%, specificity 53.27% with cut-off score ≥ 4. Chi-square score indicated a significant correlation between SDQ-PR and the diagnoses from child psychologist for hyperkinetic and behavior disorder, but not for an emotional problem.

Background Apathy is a predictor of cognitive decline in the course of multiple sclerosis (MS). Early identification of apathetic patients is relevant in clinical settings. Objective To assess applicability and psychometric properties of the self-rated version of the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) in a large cohort of patients with MS and to compare its diagnosing accuracy with that of the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES). Methods One hundred and twenty-four patients underwent clinical interview based on diagnostic criteria for apathy, DAS, AES, and assessment of depression, global cognitive functioning, and non-verbal intelligence. Results According to diagnostic criteria, apathy occurred in 33.4% of the patients. The DAS showed high consistency, and good convergent, discriminant and criterion validity. Factor analysis indicated a three-factor structure: executive, behavioural and emotional apathy. Unlike AES, no significant association between DAS score and severity of neurological disability (expressed by EDSS total score) was found, suggesting that the DAS might be less related to levels of disability. Receiver operating characteristics analyses, with clinical diagnostic criteria for apathy as the gold standard, revealed that a DAS score of 28/29 and an AES score of 35/36 were optimal cut-off values for identifying clinically relevant apathy. The two scales had similar diagnostic accuracy in the present sample. Conclusions The DAS is a valid and reliable multidimensional tool to assess apathy in MS, with diagnostic accuracy similar to that of the AES. However, the DAS score appears to be less strongly related to neurological disability.

Background This systematic review examined the methodological quality of studies and assessed the psychometric qualities of interview-administered Past-week and Usual-week Physical Activity Questionnaires (PAQs). Pubmed and Embase were used to retrieve data sources. Methods The studies were selected using the following eligibility criteria: 1) psychometric properties of PAQs were assessed in adults; 2) the PAQs either consisted of recall periods of usual 7-days (Usual-week PAQs) within the past 12 months or during the past 7-days (Past-week PAQs); and 3) PAQs were interview-administered. The COSMIN taxonomy was utilised to critically appraise study quality and a previously established psychometric criteria employed to evaluate the overall psychometric qualities. Results Following screening, 42 studies were examined to determine the psychometric properties of 20 PAQs, with the majority of studies demonstrating good to excellent ratings for methodological quality. For convergent validity (i.e., the relationship between PAQs and other measures), similar overall associations were found between Past-week PAQs and Usual-week PAQs. However, PAQs were more strongly associated with direct measures of physical activity (e.g., accelerometer) than indirect measures of physical activity (i.e., physical fitness), irrespective of recall methods. Very few psychometric properties were examined for each PAQ, with the majority exhibiting poor ratings in psychometric quality. Only a few interview-administered PAQs exhibited positive ratings for a single psychometric property, although the other properties were either rated as poor or questionable, demonstrating the limitations of current PAQs. Conclusion Accordingly, further research is necessary to explore a greater number of psychometric properties, or to develop new PAQs by addressing the psychometric limitations identified in the current review.

Distortions of reality, such as hallucinations, are common symptoms of many psychiatric conditions. Accordingly, sense of reality (SoR), the ability to discriminate between true and false perceptions, is a central criterion in the assessment of neurological and psychiatric health. Despite the critical role of the SoR in daily life, little is known about how this is formed in the mind. Here, we propose a novel theoretical and methodological framework to study the SoR and its relation to psychotic symptoms. In two experiments, we employed a specialized immersive virtual reality (VR) environment allowing for well-controlled manipulations of visual reality. We first tested the impact of manipulating visual reality on objective perceptual thresholds (just noticeable differences). In a second experiment, we tested how these manipulations affected subjective judgments of reality. The results revealed that the objective perceptual thresholds were robust and replicable, demonstrating that SoR is a stable psychometric property that can be measured experimentally. Furthermore, reality alterations reduced subjective reality judgments across all manipulated visual aspects. Finally, reduced sensitivity to changes in visual reality was related to self-reported prodromal psychotic symptoms. These results provide evidence for the relevance of SoR in the assessment of psychosis and other mental disorders in which reality is distorted.

Despite the prominent use of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) in primary healthcare systems, few studies have confirmed its diagnostic utility and psychometric properties in non-Western countries. This study aims to clarify the clinical utility of the BAI as a screening tool for anxiety disorders according to DSM-IV criteria, based on blind recruitment and diagnostic interviews of both clinical and non-clinical participants in the Korean population. A total of 1,157 participants were involved in the final psychometric analysis, which included correlational analysis with other anxiety and depression self-report measures and mean score comparison with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). ROC analysis and calculation of positive and negative predictive values were conducted to examine diagnostic utility. The BAI was found to have high correlations with depression-related self-report measures (0.747-0.796) and moderate to high correlations with anxiety-related self-report measures (0.518-0.776). The ROC analysis failed to provide cutoff scores with adequate sensitivity and specificity for identifying participants with anxiety disorders (85.0% sensitivity, 88.1% specificity, and 92.8% AUC). The comparison of BAI and BDI mean scores for different diagnostic groups revealed that BAI and BDI scores were higher in the depressive or anxiety disorders group than in the non-clinical group. However, BAI mean score was not higher for the anxiety-only group than the depression-only group. Our data supports the BAI reliability and validity as a tool to measure the severity of general anxiety in clinical and non-clinical populations; however, it fails to capture the unique characteristics of anxiety disorders that distinguish them from depressive disorders. Further clinical implications of the BAI based on these results and some limitations of the study are discussed.

IntroductionMotor imagery (MI) is a very popular and well-accepted technique in different disciplines. Originating from sport and psychology, MI is now also used in the field of medicine and education. Several studies confirmed the benefits of MI to facilitate motor learning and skill acquisition. The findings indicated that individual’s MI ability might influence the effectiveness of MI interventions. Over the last two centuries, researchers have developed several assessments to evaluate MI’s abstract construct. However, no systematic reviews (SR) exist for MI ability evaluation methods and their measurement properties.Methods and analysisThe SR will evaluate available MI ability assessments and their psychometric properties in four relevant disciplines: sports, psychology, medicine and education. This involves performing searches in SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science and ERIC. Working independently, two reviewers will screen articles for selection. Then all raw information will be compiled in an overview table—including the articles’ characteristics (eg, a study’s setting or the population demographics) and the MI ability assessment (psychometric properties). To evaluate the articles’ methodological quality, we will use the COSMIN checklist. Then we will evaluate all the included assessments’ quality and perform a best-evidence synthesis. Results of this review will be reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.Ethics and disseminationThe SR is based on published data, and ethical approval is not required. This review will provide information on assessment performance and equipment, as well as its main focus and usefulness. Furthermore, we will present the methodological quality of all the included articles and assess the included instruments’ quality. Ultimately, this will act as a valuable resource, providing an overview of MI ability assessments for individual clinical settings, treatment aims, and various populations. The SR’s final report will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017077004

Background:Many patient-reported outcome instruments (or questionnaires) have been developed for use in patients with rotator cuff disease. Before an instrument is implemented, its psychometric properties should be carefully assessed, and the methodological quality of papers that investigate a psychometric component of an instrument must be carefully evaluated. Together, the psychometric evidence and the methodological quality can then be used to arrive at an estimate of an instrument’s quality.Purpose:To identify patient-reported outcome instruments used in patients with rotator cuff disease and to critically appraise and summarize their psychometric properties to guide researchers and clinicians in using high-quality patient-reported outcome instruments in this population.Study Design:Systematic review.Methods:Systematic literature searches were performed to find English-language articles concerning the development or evaluation of a psychometric property of a patient-reported outcome instrument for use in patients with rotator cuff disease. Methodological quality and psychometric evidence were critically appraised and summarized through 2 standardized sets of criteria.Results:A total of 1881 articles evaluating 39 instruments were found per the search strategy, of which 73 articles evaluating 16 instruments were included in this study. The Constant-Murley score, the DASH (Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand), and the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index were the 3 most frequently evaluated instruments. In contrast, the psychometric properties of the Korean Shoulder Scoring System, Shoulder Activity Level, Subjective Shoulder Value, and Western Ontario Osteoarthritis Shoulder index were evaluated by only 1 study each. The Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index was found to have the best overall quality of psychometric properties per the established criteria, with positive evidence found in internal consistency, reliability, content validity, hypothesis testing, and responsiveness. The DASH, Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, and Simple Shoulder Test had good evidence in support of internal consistency, reliability, structural validity, hypothesis testing, and responsiveness. Inadequate methodological quality was found across many studies, particularly in internal consistency, reliability, measurement error, hypothesis testing, and responsiveness.Conclusion:More high-quality methodological studies should be performed to assess the properties in all identified instruments.

There has been little research on using Cognitive load theory (CLT) to guide the design and evaluation mHealth applications. In this presentation, we describe: 1) the historical development of CLT in instructional design, 2) the implications of cognitive load (CL) to principles of designing mHealth applications, and 3) a review of cognitive load measurements in educational studies.

Processing speed is an updated diagnostic factor for neurocognitive disorders (NCD) in DSM-5. This study investigated the characteristics of processing speed and their diagnostic values in NCD patients. A flanker test was conducted in 31 adults with NCD due to vascular disease (NCD-vascular), 36 patients with NCD due to Alzheimer’s disease (NCD-AD), and 137 healthy controls. The processing speed was evaluated using two measurements: mean reaction time (RT) and intra-individual variability of RT. Mean RT represents the global processing speed. Intra-individual variability of RT is the short-term fluctuation of RT and consists of two indices, which are intra-individual coefficient of variation of reaction time (ICV-RT) and intra-individual standard deviations (iSD). We observed elevated ICV-RT and iSD in NCD-AD and NCD-vascular patients. Additionally, there was a slowed RT in NCD-AD patients. The intra-individual variability of RT had a moderate power to differentiate NCD subgroups. The mean RT was able to discriminate the NCD-AD from NCD-vascular patients. Our findings highlight the clinical utility of the combined ‘two-level’ measurements of processing speed to distinguish between individuals with different cognitive status. Furthermore, the ‘two-level’ features of processing speed embedded in the psychometric property may also reflect the diverse aetiology underlying certain ‘disease-specific’ neurocognitive disorders.

Objectives: Resilience, which is a psychometric property related to “hardiness” or the ability to respond to challenging situations, is a recognized predictor in many outcomes’ domains. This has been studied extensively in stressful situations such as military returning from deployment, serious disease, and traumatic injury. To date however, no study has assessed the role of patient resiliency with respect to surgical outcome. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of preoperative resiliency as calculated by the Brief Resiliency Score (BRS) on relevant surgical outcomes, including the time required to return to full unrestricted activity following an arthroscopic Bankart repair. In addition the correlation between pre-operative BRS with post-operative BRS, post-operative Western Ontario Instability Index (WOSI), American Shoulder and Elbow (ASES) and Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) scores was also assessed. Methods: This is a retrospective review of prospectively gathered data on 25 consecutive active duty military patients undergoing an arthroscopic Bankart repair for instability. The mean follow-up was 24.3 months (range, 23-27) as the primary outcome was return to unrestricted duty which occurs within the first year post-intervention. There were 24 males and 1 female. All patients were on unrestricted active military duty prior to injuring the operative shoulder. All patients completed BRS, WOSI, ASES, and SANE questionnaires prior to operative intervention. They then completed the same questionnaires at the most recent follow-up as well as an additional questionnaire on military duty status (unrestricted duty, limited duty, medical separation from the military). Patients were divided into low resiliency and high resiliency groups based on a score of Results: All patients had been cleared for return to full-duty or were undergoing a medical separation at final follow-up. There were no differences between groups in demographics, glenoid bone loss, or glenoid track status. Pre-operative BRS was significantly correlated with time to return to full duty, need for medical separation from the military, post-operative WOSI, SANE and ASES scores and change between pre- and post-operative WOSI, ASES and SANE scores. Those patients with high resiliency returned to full duty significantly faster than the low resiliency group (4.4 v 6.7 months, pConclusion: Preoperative resiliency was highly predictive of the time required to return to full, unrestricted military duty. It was also predictive of post-operative subjective and objective outcomes as well as overall improvement between pre- and post-operative outcomes scores. Highly resilient patients were able to return to duty 2 months faster with significantly fewer requiring medical separation from the military than those lacking resiliency.

To summarize measurement instruments used to evaluate activity limitations and participation restrictions in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and review the psychometric properties of these instruments.General information of all included measurement instruments was extracted. The methodological quality was evaluated using the COSMIN checklist. Results of the measurement properties were rated based on the quality criteria of Terwee et al. Finally, overall quality was defined per psychometric property and measurement instrument by use of the quality criteria by Schellingerhout et al.A total of 68 articles were identified of which eight evaluated the psychometric properties of a measurement instrument assessing activity limitations and participation restrictions. One disease-specific and 37 generic measurement instruments were found. Limited evidence was found for the psychometric properties and clinical usability of these instruments. However, the CFS-activities and participation questionnaire (APQ) is a disease-specific instrument with moderate content and construct validity.The psychometric properties of the reviewed measurement instruments to evaluate activity limitations and participation restrictions are not sufficiently evaluated. Future research is needed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the measurement instruments, including the other properties of the CFS-APQ. If it is necessary to use a measurement instrument, the CFS-APQ is recommended.Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Chronic fatigue syndrome causes activity limitations and participation restrictions in one or more areas of life. Standardized, reliable and valid measurement instruments are necessary to identify these limitations and restrictions. Currently, no measurement instrument is sufficiently evaluated with persons with CFS. If a measurement instrument is needed to identify activity limitations and participation restrictions with persons with CFS, it is recommended to use the CFS-APQ in clinical practice and scientific research.

Introduction Stress disorder among students is a major concern in tertiary education. This study aimed to determine the predominance source of stress among health sciences students in a government university in Malaysia by using validated Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ). Methodology: The MSSQ was distributed to 248 health science students. The items of MSSQ represent 40 events that reported to being possible sources of stress. Result and discussion: The MSSQ showed satisfactory level of psychometric property in the health science students. The main source of stress was the academic related stressor Conclusion Academic requirement is the major stressor for the students. This finding is consistent with the literature and appropriate measures should be sought to prevent its unwanted consequences.

Background: The occurrence of stress and stress related anxiety and depression in medical personnel are being increasingly reported in literature. The perceived stress scale (PSS) is the most widely used psychological instrument for measuring the perception of stress. It is needed to assess perceived stress in our population using appropriately translated version of PSS. The objectives of study were to prepare a Bengali version of PSS-10 and to establish its psychometric properties in the study population. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a teaching hospital among medical students and interns ( N=37). The translated Bengali version and the original English version of PSS-10 were separately handed over to the individual subjects. The scores were compared across different subgroups and psychometric properties of the translated version were assessed using SPSS 16. Results: Internal consistency of PSS English (α=0.79) and Bengali (α=0.80) was satisfactory. Intra-rater reliability was adequate (κ>0.5) for most of the items, but showed an inadequate value (κ

Objective.The objectives of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Stiffness special interest group (SIG) are to characterize stiffness as an outcome in rheumatic disease and to identify and validate a stiffness patient-reported outcome (PRO) in rheumatology.Methods.At OMERACT 2016, international groups presented and discussed results of several concurrent research projects on stiffness: a literature review of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) stiffness PRO measures, a qualitative investigation into the RA and polymyalgia rheumatica patient perspective of stiffness, data-driven stiffness conceptual model development, development and testing of an RA stiffness PRO measure, and a quantitative work testing stiffness items in patients with RA and psoriatic arthritis.Results.The literature review identified 52 individual stiffness PRO measures assessing morning or early morning stiffness severity/intensity or duration. Items were heterogeneous, had little or inconsistent psychometric property evidence, and did not appear to have been developed according to the PRO development guidelines. A poor match between current stiffness PRO and the conceptual model identifying the RA patient experience of stiffness was identified, highlighting a major flaw in PRO selection according to the OMERACT filter 2.0.Conclusion.Discussions within the Stiffness SIG highlighted the importance of further research on stiffness and defined a research agenda.

Background The extent to which each item assessed using the Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills (GOALS) contributes to the total score remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of difficulty and discriminative ability of each of the 5 GOALS items using item response theory (IRT). Methods A total of 396 GOALS assessments for a variety of laparoscopic procedures over a 12-year time period were included. Threshold parameters of item difficulty and discrimination power were estimated for each item using IRT. Results The higher slope parameters seen with “bimanual dexterity” and “efficiency” are indicative of greater discriminative ability than “depth perception”, “tissue handling”, and “autonomy”. Conclusions IRT psychometric analysis indicates that the 5 GOALS items do not demonstrate uniform difficulty and discriminative power, suggesting that they should not be scored equally. “Bimanual dexterity” and “efficiency” seem to have stronger discrimination. Weighted scores based on these findings could improve the accuracy of assessing individual laparoscopic skills.

Osteoarthritis (OA) has a profound impact on health-related quality of life 1 . Increasing importance has been attached to utilization of disease-specific, self-reported outcome measures 2 , such as the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) instrument 3 . China is the most populous country in the world with 1.3 billion people. Hence, we translated and adapted the HOOS into a Simplified Chinese version (SC-HOOS) and validated it in a cohort of native Chinese-speaking patients with hip OA, relative to the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), a visual analog scale (VAS), and the Harris hip score (HHS) test. Psychometric testing for internal consistency, testeretest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness was conducted. The SC-HOOS showed satisfactory internal consistency, testeretest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness when evaluated in Chinese-speaking patients with hip OA.

Summary Objective To validate the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) for the assessment of competitive athletes with higher level sports activities after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Methods and Measures Fifty-seven athletes (39 males and 18 females; age, 25.6±3.4 years; height, 179.6±7.4cm; weight, 77.6±9.8kg) after ACL reconstruction were asked to complete the Persian KOOS and Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaires in the test session. To evaluate test–retest reliability, all participants filled out the KOOS and SF-36, 6–8 days after the first visit. The properties of the KOOS in terms of reliability [Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC)], internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), dimensionality (item–scale correlation) and construct validity (Spearman's rank correlation) were evaluated. Results No floor or ceiling effect was observed. The ICCs (S.E.M.s) of the KOOS subscales were: Pain 0.93 (2.2), Symptoms 0.85 (3.1), Activities of Daily Living 0.91 (2.9), Function in Sport and Recreation 0.75 (2.1) and Knee-related Quality of Life 0.89 (2.6). The Cronbach's alphas of the KOOS subscales were: Pain 0.91, Symptoms 0.75, Activities of Daily Living 0.96, Function in Sport and Recreation 0.86 and Knee-related Quality of Life 0.74. Spearman's rank correlations between the subscales of the KOOS and representative subscales of the SF-36 ranged from 0.40 to 0.79. Conclusion This study illustrates the validity and reliability of the KOOS in measuring the functional status and quality of life of athletes after ACL reconstruction. This study further validates the use of the KOOS in highly competitive athletes in research on knee injuries.

Introduction: Stress among students is a major concern in tertiary education. This study determined the predominance source of stress among health sciences students in Malaysia. Methodology: Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) represents 40 events possible sources of stress. was distributed to 248 health science students. Result and discussion: The MSSQ showed satisfactory level of psychometric property in the health science students. The main source of stress was the academic related stressor Conclusion: Academic requirement is the major stressor for the students. This finding is consistent with the literature and appropriate measures should be sought to prevent its unwanted consequences. Keywords: MSSQ; Allied health; Stress disorder ; Academic related domain. eISSN 2514-7528 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Purpose: Provision of supportive care to meet patients' individual needs is instrumental to enhancing their quality of life. We therefore need an appropriate assessment tool to measure such needs. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric property of the Japanese version of the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey questionnaire (SCNS-SF34-J). Subjects and methods: The forward–backward translation method was used to develop the Japanese version of SCNS-SF34, originally developed by Boyes et al. in Australia. Randomly selected ambulatory female patients with breast cancer participated in this study. They were asked to complete the SCNS-SF34-J and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C 30. The validity and the reliability of SCNS-SF34-J were evaluated statistically. Results: Complete data were available from 408 patients. A five-factor solution that accounted for 74.6% of the total variance was reproduced. The results confirmed the five-factor structure found in the original SCNS development study, consisting of Health system and Information needs, Psychological needs, Physical needs, Care and Support needs, and Sexuality needs. Cronbach's alpha coefficients, which are the measures of the internal consistency, were above 0.85 for all of five subscales. Significant correlations were also found for corresponding subscales in each of the instruments. The anticipated differences in supportive care needs between groups divided by the patient characteristics, such as the disease stage, were found to be significant. Conclusion: The results indicated that SCNS-SF34-J is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the supportive care needs of Japanese cancer patients. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ObjectiveThere is a debate regarding the use of disease-specific versus generic instruments for health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures. We tested the psychometric properties of HRQOL measures using the Diabetes-39 (D-39) and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study collecting data from 280 patients in Taiwan. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate construct validity of the two instruments. Known-groups validity was examined using laboratory indicators (fasting, 2-hour postprandial plasma glucose, and hemoglobin A1c), presence of diabetic complications (retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, diabetic foot disorder, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders), and psychosocial variables (sense of well-being and self-reported diabetes severity). Overall discriminative power of the two instruments was evaluated using the C-statistic.ResultsThree distinct factors were extracted through factor analysis. These factors tapped all subscales of the D-39, fourphysical subscales of the SF-36, and four mental subscales of the SF-36, respectively. Compared with the SF-36, the D-39 demonstrated superior known-groups validity for 2-hour postprandial plasma glucose groups but was inferior for complication groups. Compared with the SF-36, the D-39 discriminated better between self-reported severity known groups, but was inferior between well-being groups. In overall discriminative power, the D-39 discriminated better between laboratory known groups. The SF-36, however, was superior in discriminating between complication known groups.ConclusionsFor psychometric properties, the D-39 and the SF-36 were superior to each other in different regards. The combined use of a disease-specific instrument and a generic instrument may be a useful strategy for diabetes HRQOL assessment.

Facebook is the most popular social network in most nations and in Turkey. It is argued that it can involve insecure behavior in adolescents. Teenagers in Turkey are to receive tablet computers nationwide through the FATIH project. Personal availability is likely to impact Internet and Facebook habits. Also, with lack of social support, teens might more intensely engage in Facebook. This study identifies teens who are more likely to perform less secure Facebook activities. A survey was conducted on 4,261 middle and high school students in Turkey. Logistic regressions were run to predict the likelihood of Facebook-related behaviors. Results showed that teens who perceive support from significant others, males, metropolitans, and teens who have more tablet computer opportunities, competencies and beliefs were more likely to engage in risky activities. Family support significantly reduced the likelihood of risky behaviors. Results call for promoting family support and monitoring tablet computer habits. Teens should be educated about social network threats and privacy.

Introduction Clinical measurements of strength in stroke subjects are usually performed and portable dynamometers are one of the most employed instruments. Objective To verify the standardization procedures of the methods used to assess the strength of the trunk and upper limb muscles with portable dynamometers in stroke subjects, as well as to assess the psychometric properties which were already investigated. Materials and methods An extensive search was performed on the MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS, and PEDro databases, by combining specific key words, followed by active manual searches by two independent researchers. Results and discussion Fifty-eight studies were included: three related to the trunk and 55 to the upper limb muscles, including handgrip and pinch strength assessments. The most investigated muscular groups were handgrip, elbow flexors/extensors, wrist extensors, and lateral pinch. Nine studies reported adequate reliability levels and the seated position was employed in the majority of the studies which assessed trunk, handgrip, and pinch strength, while the supine position was used for the other muscular groups. The number of trials most used was three, while the reported contractions and rest times were variable. Final considerations Most studies reported the positioning and/or the data collection protocols; however, there was no consensus on the standardization procedures. The only investigated psychometric property was reliability. Few studies evaluated the trunk muscles and other psychometric properties. Introdução A mensuração da força muscular em indivíduos acometidos pelo Acidente Vascular Encefálico (AVE) é comumente realizada na clínica, sendo os dinamômetros portáteis os instrumentos mais utilizados para tanto. Objetivo Verificar se há uma padronização dos métodos utilizados para avaliação da força muscular de tronco e membros superiores (MMSS) com o uso de dinamômetros portáteis em indivíduos pós-AVE, bem como verificar quais propriedades de medida já foram investigadas. Materiais e métodos As buscas foram realizadas nas bases de dados MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS e PEDro com combinação de termos específicos, seguidas de busca manual ativa. A seleção dos estudos e a extração das informações foram realizadas por dois examinadores independentes. Resultados e discussão Foram incluídos 58 estudos (três de tronco e 55 de MMSS, incluindo preensão manual e pinça). Os grupos musculares mais avaliados foram preensão manual, flexores de cotovelo, extensores de punho, extensores de cotovelo e pinça lateral. Nove estudos reportaram confiabilidade adequada do método. A maioria dos estudos que avaliaram os músculos de tronco, de preensão manual e de pinça utilizou a postura sentada, enquanto o decúbito dorsal foi mais utilizado na avaliação dos demais músculos. O número de repetições mais utilizado foi três, já o tempo de contração e o período de repouso variaram entre os estudos. Considerações finais A maioria dos estudos relatou o posicionamento e/ou o protocolo de coleta, porém não houve uma padronização. A única propriedade de medida investigada foi a confiabilidade. Poucos estudos avaliaram os músculos de tronco e as outras propriedades de medida.

Background As parents and their children increasingly use Internet website to obtain information about Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS), a growing need to evaluate the content quality of websites is emerging. Bettany-Saltikov et al. and MacCulloch et al. have suggested some suitable requirements that websites on scoliosis should include. From these suggestions, we have created an instrument to quantify this suitability.

Blogs have become a pervasive and powerful forms of communication in the milieu enabled by Web 2.0, and are assuming important roles in the arsenals of marketing communicators. Yet little evidence currently exists of the extent to which consumers believe the content of blogs or not. This paper presents the results of a study that examines the extent of skepticism toward blogs within a reasonably large sample. Using a scale adapted from the advertising literature to measure skepticism, the research compared levels of skepticism among consumers by age, level of education and gender, as well as the frequency with which consumers accessed blogs, and the number of blogs they accessed. Some preliminary observations on psychometric properties of the adapted scale are also made. The paper concludes by acknowledging the limitations of the research, identifying the implications for management, and noting avenues for future research.

BACKGROUND Patients with dementia are often unable to describe their pain because of memory deficiency and speech problems. This may lead to under-diagnosing and suboptimal pain treatment. The article summarises a thesis on development and testing of a new instrument for pain assessment: Mobilisation-Observation-Behavior-Intensity-Dementia (MOBID-2) pain scale. MATERIAL AND METHODS 284 nursing home patients (with and without pain), who had been diagnosed with dementia of different types in various stages, were included in the study. Behaviour and intensity of pain was assessed during video-uptakes of clinical examinations and during regular morning care. Psychometric property testing included assessments of reliability, validity and clinical usefulness for the nursing home staff. RESULTS Observation of pain behaviour during standardised and guided movements, by using the MOBID-2 Pain Scale, provides reliable and valid estimation of intensity of pain associated with the musculoskeletal-system. Pain that is not associated with the musculoskeletal-system is frequently observed, but more challenging to assess. Patients who have severe dementia and/or a combination of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, have a higher risk of suffering from severe and untreated pain than patients without dementia. INTERPRETATION The MOBID-2 pain scale may help to ensure competent pain treatment, and should be available in all Norwegian nursing homes. A multidisciplinary approach is needed for its implementation and use. Physicians in nursing homes should reconsider the staff's observations, perform additional investigations and find the balance between effects and side effects of pain treatment.

ObjectiveDue to a proliferation of measures for different components of the home environment related to childhood obesity, the purpose of the present systematic review was to examine these tools and the degree to which they can validly and reliably assess the home environment.DesignRelevant manuscripts published between 1998 and 2010 were obtained through electronic database searches and manual searches of reference lists. Manuscripts were included if the researchers reported on a measure of the home environment related to child eating and physical activity (PA) and childhood obesity and reported on at least one psychometric property.ResultsOf the forty papers reviewed, 48 % discussed some aspect of parenting specific to food. Fifty-per cent of the manuscripts measured food availability/accessibility, 18 % measured PA availability/accessibility, 20 % measured media availability/accessibility, 30 % focused on feeding style, 23 % focused on parenting related to PA and 20 % focused on parenting related to screen time.ConclusionsMany researchers chose to design new measures for their studies but often the items employed were brief and there was a lack of transparency in the psychometric properties. Many of the current measures of the home food and PA environment focus on one or two constructs; more comprehensive measures as well as short screeners guided by theoretical models are necessary to capture influences in the home on food and PA behaviours of children. Finally, the current measures of the home environment do not necessarily translate to specific sub-populations. Recommendations were made for future validation of measures in terms of appropriate psychometric testing.

This empirical study investigated educational level and socio-economic status as correlates of child abuse and neglect. One hundred and forty-four Junior Secondary School (JSS) students (72 males, 72 females) randomly selected from four Secondary Schools in Ibadan metropolis participated in the study. The instrument employed was Child Abuse and Neglect Inventory with psychometric property of .68. Two null hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance. Results showed that JSS students whose parents had lower educational level were significantly abused and neglected than their counterparts whose parents had higher educational levels. It was also found that JSS Students with lower socio- economic background experienced significant abuse and neglect than JSS students with higher socio-economic background. Based on these findings, recommendations were advanced towards curbing child abuse and neglect in the nation.

This study was design to test the reliability and validity of test via mobile phone based platform (MPBT) administered into potential PTSD sufferings in Mianzhu, Sichuan province, and examine the equivalence with traditional paper-and-pencil test (PPT) counterpart and gender differences. In the case of Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES), the MPBT form had acceptable psychometric properties, equivalence with PPT form and no gender differences. These results prove the application of mobile phone to assess and monitor the psychological state of users to be a useful and valid way.

Emotions are an important part of the user experience in human machine interaction. More standardized methods of emotion measurement are required to assist in evaluating and comparing these experiences. This research introduces the concept of Emotional Bandwidth, a psychometric property of self-reported emotion measured through a continuous, quantitative slider. Emotional Bandwidth is illustrated in a videoconference watching case study. The Shannon-Weaver measure of informational entropy was used to quantify the rating usage bandwidth, which relates to the number of levels of emotional rating effectively utilized by participants. Significant differences in rating usage strategy were found, with four groups being identified; across the four experimental blocks, entropy either increased, decreased, remained constant or irregular. Emotional Bandwidth, the information-theoretic analysis of affect ratings collected with a continuous slider, may be used to characterize changes in participants' emotional self-rating during experiments and evaluations.

Background: Standardised outcome measures are not being used in routine mental health care. Method: The importance of routine use of standardised outcome measures is argued, and reasons for their lack of use suggested. Results: One reason for standardised outcome measures not being used routinely is the lack of appropriate instruments. This property of being suitable for routine use is often called feasibility, but there is no consensus about the meaning of feasibility, or how it should be measured. We propose a definition of feasibility as a psychometric property of a standardised outcome measure, provide criteria for assessing feasibility, and then present a framework for changing practice to increase the routine use of standardised outcome measures. Conclusions: If mental health care is to maximise outcome, then more attention needs to be paid both to the process of developing and to facilitating the routine clinical use of feasible outcome measures.

Purpose Responsiveness is defined as the ability of an instrument to accurately detect change when it has occurred and is an essential psychometric property of a patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measure to understand and interpret study findings. This study examined the responsiveness of 2 Treatment Related Impact Measures (TRIMs): The TRIM-Diabetes (TRIM-D) and TRIM-Diabetes Device (TRIM-DD) as well as confirmed their measurement models in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. Methods The data were collected in a multi-center, randomized, open-label (2 × 12 week), cross-over study of two prefilled pens in subjects with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, age 18 or older. Internal and external responsiveness were examined. To confirm the measurement model identified in the previous study, the Bentler comparative fit index (CFI) and internal consistency for the RCT sample scores were examined and compared. Results Based on a priori criteria, tests of responsiveness were confirmed with patients having significant improvements over time ranging from 2.7 (Psychological Health) to 11.1 (Treatment Burden) (P

A number of tools have been developed to seek the views of family members of critically ill patients. The most widely validated is the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit 24-item questionnaire (FS-ICU-24).