The development of a comprehensive, institution-based patient risk evaluation program: I. Development, content, and data management

There is a need for standardization of risk factor questionnaires for epidemiological research. This paper describes the development and implementation of a comprehensive cancer risk evaluation program at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. A detailed self-administered questionnaire is given to all newly registered adult patients. The format of the instrument, coding systems, quality control measures, and data entry mechanisms are discussed. The criteria for the choice of a data base management system are outlined. The identification of high-risk patient subgroups is possible, and it is feasible to link this data base with clinical and biochemical data. There is considerable potential for collaborative research using this risk evaluation program, bringing together basic scientists, clinicians, and epidemiologists.     

Validity and reliability of a questionnaire on fecundability.

The validity of a short questionnaire on fertility problems was tested on a group of 151 moderately educated women who had participated in a prospective study on early pregnancy failure some years before. Part of this group was approached by a personal interview, another part by telephone interviews and a third part was sent a questionnaire by mail. Reliability was tested on another population of 89 women with at least one child. The questionnaire was presented to these women twice with an interval of 3-5 weeks. The validity study showed no systematic errors for either of the approaches. Random errors were fairly large except for the personal interviews. The reliability showed great stability for the telephone interviews as well as for the mailed questionnaire. It is concluded that the questionnaire performs reasonably well, but on some items the draft questionnaire should be rephrased. The choice of a specific approach to the study population depends on the research question.     

Validity and reliability of a self-administered health history questionnaire.

A self-administered, health history questionnaire devised for routine use in a general medical clinic is completed without the assistance of clinic personnel and used, unedited, by the providers. The reliability and validity of the responses of 23 patients to this questionnaire were tested statistically. In our setting, more than 90 percent of the patients referred for care are capable of completing the questionnaire. The 23 patients averaged 32 minutes to complete the questionnaire. An average of 34 minutes of encounter time is required to obtain the same historical data by interview. Test-retest reliability of patients' responses to the questionnaire was 90 percent. More than 92 percent of the patients' written responses to health history items agreed with the data obtained in a blinded fashion by internists in the traditional interview. The questionnaire accurately obtains items of history frequently missing from the recorded ambulabory care data base, and in some instances obtains items of history more effectively than the interviewing physician. The study results showed a low incidence of false positive (1.8 percent) and false negative (2.8 percent) responses to questionnaire items.     

修正版心理脆弱量表汉化后的信效度评价

目的 对修正版MVQ进行信效度评价,为大学生心理脆弱性评估提供一种新的简便的测量工具。方法 采用多阶段分层整群随机取样法,抽取辽宁省锦州市、沈阳市、大连市1 217例大学生进行调查,应用SPSS20.0和AMOS22.0软件对数据进行统计分析。结果 条目的内容效度指数（I - CVI）为0.830～1.000、量表的内容效度指数（S - CVI）为0.971;探索性因子分析表明MVQ包含身心症状、精神症状、人际问题3个公因子,累积方差贡献率为75.736%,各条目的共同度为0.646～0.848。验证性因子分析显示:CMIN/DF = 2.796,CFI = 0947,GFI = 0.920,AGFI = 0.902,IFI = 0.947,RMSEA = 0.055,TLI = 0.940,PGFI = 0.749,RMR = 0.051。除RMR外,均达到适配标准。条目与总分Pearson相关系数为0.417～0.716,量表总的Cronbach'α系数为0.920,身心症状维度,精神症状维度及人际问题维度的Cronbach'ａ系数分别为0.942、0.944、0.871,分半信度为0.744,重测信度为0.935。结论 修正版的心理脆弱量表（MVQ）信效度良好,可用于评价我国大学生的心理脆弱状况。     

Validity and reliability of SCREEN II (Seniors in the community: risk evaluation for eating and nutrition, Version II)

BACKGROUND: Nutrition risk screening for community-living seniors is of great interest in the health arena. However, to be useful, nutrition risk indices need to be valid and reliable. The following three studies describe construct validation, test-retest and inter-rater reliability of SCREEN II. METHODS: Study (1) seniors were recruited from the general community and from a geriatrician's clinic to complete a nutritional assessment and SCREEN II. 193 older adults provided medical and nutritional history, 3 days of dietary recall and anthropometric measurements. A dietitian reviewed all information collected and ranked seniors on risk: 1 (low) to 10 (high risk). Receiver operating characteristic curves were completed. An abbreviated SCREEN II was developed through statistical analysis and expert ranking of the 17 items. Studies (2) and (3) seniors were recruited from the community to self-administer (n = 149) or be interviewed (n = 97) using SCREEN II twice within 2 weeks. For self-administration one index was completed via mail. Interviewer administration was completed via telephone with two interviewers. Intra-class correlations were calculated. RESULTS: (1) Total and abbreviated SCREEN II have increased sensitivity and specificity as compared to SCREEN I in identifying seniors at nutritional risk. (2) Test-retest reliability was adequate (intra-class correlation (ICC) = 0.83). (3) Inter-rater reliability was adequate (ICC = 0.83). CONCLUSIONS: SCREEN II appears to be a valid and reliable tool for the identification of risk for impaired nutritional states in community-living older adults, and is an improvement over SCREEN I.     

Validity of exposure data derived from a structured questionnaire.

It is often convenient to obtain occupational exposure information directly from employees. However, there is little published evidence on the validity of such data. Information from a short, pre-coded, structured questionnaire, administered by non-expert interviewers, was compared with information derived from management in five factories in the printing and plastics industries in England in 1986. Values of sensitivity ranged from 24% to 85% for eight different exposures, and specificity was at least 67% for seven of the eight agents. Those exposures which were described in chemically specific terms tended to have relatively higher specificities but lower sensitivities. Male workers' reports tended to have higher sensitivity but lower specificity compared with those of female workers. Workers who had been employed in the company for more than 10 years were no more accurate than their colleagues. Subjects who reported a phase of subfertility or at least one miscarriage did not have a higher proportion of false positives than the population as a whole, indicating an absence of reporting bias. Major improvements are highly desirable, especially to reduce underreporting of exposures. The use of workers' own names for agents may improve reporting.     

老年人虚弱的测评和干预研究进展

  目的  了解高龄老年人衰弱程度,分析亲子关系对衰弱的影响。  方法  于2016年7月 — 2017年1月采用分层随机整群抽样方法,选取河北省唐山市10个社区卫生服务中心辖区居民中的≥ 75岁高领老年人,进行衰弱综合评估工具（CFAI）评测。  结果  3 448名高龄老年人均有衰弱,其中轻度衰弱1 093人（31.70 %）,中度衰弱1 230人（35.67 %）,重度衰弱1 125人（32.63 %）;多元回归分析显示,女性（OR = 1.220）、年龄≥ 80岁（OR = 2.030）、有同城居住的子女（OR = 2.376、）、与子女关系不和睦（OR = 6.314）、子女不轮流看望（OR = 1.309）、不经常与子女交流（OR = 1.869）、不经常与子女打电话（OR = 1.366）是高龄老年人衰弱程度的危险因素（P < 0.05）。文化程度高中及以上（OR = 0.607）、子女经常采取老人意见（OR = 0.506）是高龄老人衰弱程度的保护因素（P < 0.05）。  结论  不良亲子关系可加速中高龄老年人衰弱进程,子女应注重加强与老年人之间的沟通,增进与老年人的感情,延缓衰弱进程,实现健康老龄化。     

Validity and reliability of a work history questionnaire derived from the Job Content Questionnaire

Job design risk factors for hypertension and heart disease have often been assessed by the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). Job characteristics are typically assessed only once, however, which can result in misclassification and bias results toward the null. Newer approaches, which assess job characteristics over a working life, are hampered by the need to ask numerous questions about each job, increasing survey length and potentially reducing response rates. Participants in the Work Site Blood Pressure Study, a prospective study of psychosocial factors and ambulatory blood pressure, completed the JCQ about their current jobs. At later dates, 213 employed men, a subset of the original cohort, retrospectively completed the Work History Questionnaire (WHQ), a short version of the JCQ, for each past job. The WHQ exhibited moderate validity for assessing past job characteristics, a weak association with systolic blood pressure, and expected patterns of change over time. Thus, it may be a valuable tool for measuring the health effects of historical job characteristics, which often change over time.     

Validity and reliability of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire for the JPHC study: The assessment of amino acid intake

Background

The Japanese database of food amino acid composition was revised in 2010 after a 24-year interval. To examine the impact of the 2010 revision compared with that of the 1986 revision, we evaluated the validity and reliability of amino acid intakes assessed using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

Validity and reliability of the MEDYN questionnaire for evaluation of functioning in mental health clients receiving occupational therapy

Background:  A number of questionnaires are currently available for measuring functionality of mental health clients; however, they are complex, clumsy to use and impossible to compare to each other. There is a clear need for a simple and straightforward tool that uses quantitative measures. We formulated a questionnaire based on occupational, behavioural and cognitive theories to assess the functioning of psychiatric inpatients receiving occupational therapy.
Methods:  Thirty-one patients hospitalised in a closed and an open ward and receiving occupational therapy were monitored during 4 weeks. Clinicians completed the questionnaire for each patient on a weekly basis.
Results:  Interrater reliability was found to be generally high with correlations among the raters in the closed ward being higher than among those in the open ward. Both cognitive and general/social functioning improved over time and the improvement was associated with type of illness and duration of treatment.
Conclusions:  The MEDYN questionnaire is a valid and reliable objective tool for functional assessment of this subgroup of patients.     

Validity and reliability of a short questionnaire for assessing the impact of cooking skills interventions

Background: Food skills programmes are widely used as a means to improve confidence in food preparation, the use of basic food skills and food selections amongst low income communities. However, the impact of such interventions are rarely evaluated as a result of a lack of validated assessment tools appropriate for use within this target group. Methods: A two‐page questionnaire utilising a closed‐question format was designed based on key domains known to be influenced by cooking skills programmes. Content validity was assessed by a panel of public health experts and face validity by individuals, typical of those who may attend cooking skills classes. Internal and repeat reliability were assessed with groups of adults attending community‐based classes. The feasibility of using the tool in community settings was also assessed. Results: The draft questionnaire was amended as appropriate subsequent to content and face validity testing. Cronbach’s alpha for confidence and knowledge sections was 0.86 and 0.84, respectively, indicating good internal consistency. Spearman correlation coefficients for repeat reliability testing between time 1 and time 2 for each item were in the range 0.46–0.91 (all significant at P < 0.001), indicating that the questionnaire elicited stable responses for repeated use. Feasibility testing highlighted the need for detailed instructions for course tutors on how to distribute and check questionnaires for completion. Conclusions: This tool provides a standardised method of evaluating cooking skills interventions that could be utilised in the development and evaluation of multicentre cooking skills interventions.     

Validity and reliability of the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire in a sample of 673 Italian teachers

Purpose  

This study explores the explicative potential of effort-reward imbalance Model to unveil the dimensions involved in teacher stress process and analyses the psychometric characteristics of the Italian version of the ERI Questionnaire (Siegrist, J Occup Health Psychol 1:27–43, 1996) with respect to a homogeneous occupational group: Italian school teachers.     

医学生心理亚健康自评问卷编制及信效度评价

目的初步编制医学生心理亚健康自评问卷,评价其适用性和信效度。方法在文献综述的基础上结合个别访谈和专家咨询,编制医学生心理亚健康自评问卷,并实测于499名医学生,通过Cronbach's α系数评估问卷的同质性信度,通过探索性因素分析和相关性分析法评价问卷的结构效度,用区分法考评其效标效度。结果通过项目分析、探索性分析和主成分分析,确定该问卷由情绪反应、学习困难、厌世厌学、自我认知、躯体症状、异常感知6个因子共35个条目组成,累积贡献率为45.653%;其总体和各因子的Cronbach's α系数分别为0.877、0.850、0.732、0.690、0.510、0.642和0.632,总体信度较好,各因子基本达到要求;相关分析结果显示,每题与其所属因素的相关系数均大于与其他因素的相关系数,每个因素的内部一致性系数α均大于该因素与其他因素的相关系数,且各因子与总问卷的相关系数分别为0.834、0.664、0.651、0.438、0.645和0.607,表明问卷的结构效度较高;t检验结果显示问卷能有效区分不同群体的反应水平,具有较好的效标效度。结论医学生心理亚健康自评问卷具有较好的信度效度,简便可行,可用于医学生心理亚健康初筛。     

The NORPEQ patient experiences questionnaire: data quality, internal consistency and validity following a Norwegian inpatient survey

AIMS: This article describes the development of a questionnaire designed for comparisons of patient experiences of hospital care within the Nordic countries. The results of testing for data quality, reliability, and validity are presented following a Norwegian survey. METHODS: Following a literature review and consultation within an expert group six items were developed measuring patient experiences together with two items assessing global satisfaction and perception of incorrect treatment. The questions were included in a questionnaire that was mailed to 500 patients randomly selected from patients receiving inpatient treatment at a large university hospital in Norway. Principal component analysis was used to assess dimensionality. Reliability was assessed by the internal consistency and test-retest methods. Construct validity was assessed by the scale's correlation with variables known to be related to patient experiences. RESULTS: A total of 244 (48.8%) patients responded. Levels of missing data ranged from 0.4% to 2.5%. The six items in the questionnaire that measured important aspects of patient experiences with the services contributed to a single scale with item-total correlations in the range 0.59-0.71 and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.85. The test-retest intraclass correlation was 0.88. CONCLUSIONS: The NORPEQ is a brief measure of patient experiences that covers important aspects of the healthcare encounter. It shows good evidence of reliability and validity and is relatively easy to apply alongside existing national surveys.