A systematic review highlighting poor-quality of evidence for Content Validity of Quality of Life (QoL) Instruments in Female Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP)

Efficacy of embolotherapy for the treatment of pelvic congestion syndrome: A systematic review

Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) poses a significant health, diagnostic, and economic challenges. Transcatheter embolisation has emerged as a promising treatment for PCS. A systematic review was performed in order to assess the safety and efficacy of transcatheter embolisation in the treatment of PCS. A systematic search of electronic databases was performed using 'PubMed', 'Embase', 'Medline (OVID)', and 'Web of Science', for articles pertaining to efficacy of embolotherapy for the treatment of pelvic congestion syndrome. A total of 25 studies were included in this systematic review with a combined total of 2038 patients. All patients included were female with a mean average age of 37.65 (31-51). Of the 25 studies, 18/25 studies reported pre- and post-procedural pelvic pain outcomes using a visual analogue scale (VAS). All studies showed a reduction in VAS post-procedure. Transcatheter embolisation had a high technical success rate (94%) and an overall complication rate of 9.0%, of which 10.4% were major and 89.6% were minor. Fifteen out of 19 (78.9%) major complications required a subsequent intervention. Transcatheter embolisation using various techniques is effective and safe in treating PCS. A low quality of evidence limits the currently available literature; however, embolisation has shown to improve symptoms in the majority of patients with low complication rates and recurrence rates.

Measures of Subjective Memory for People with Epilepsy: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties

People with epilepsy frequently express concern about the burden of memory problems in their everyday lives. Self-report memory questionnaires may provide valuable insight into individuals' perceptions of their everyday memory performance and changes over time. Yet, despite their potential utility, the measurement properties of self-report memory questionnaires have not been evaluated in epilepsy. This systematic review aimed to provide a critical appraisal of the measurement properties of self-report memory questionnaires for adults with epilepsy. Following protocol registration (PROSPERO CRD42020210967), a systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsychInfo from database inception until 27 May 2021 was conducted. Eligible studies were published in English-language peer-reviewed journals, recruited adults with epilepsy, and reported on the development or evaluation of the measurement properties of a self-report memory questionnaire. The COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) methodology was used to evaluate each study of a measurement property, and results were qualitatively synthesised. In total, 80 articles and one test manual were located containing 153 studies of measurement properties pertinent to 23 self-report memory questionnaires. Overall, no scale could be recommended outright for the evaluation of subjective memory symptoms in adults with epilepsy. This was due to the near absence of dedicated content validation studies relevant to this population and shortcomings in the methodology and scientific reporting of available studies of structural validity. Recommendations to support the advancement and psychometric validation of self-report memory questionnaires for people with epilepsy are provided.

Development, women-centricity and psychometric properties of maternity patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs): A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Measuring maternity care outcomes based on what women value is critical to promoting woman-centred maternity care. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are instruments that enable service users to assess healthcare service and system performance.

AIM

To identify and critically appraise the risk of bias, woman-centricity (content validity) and psychometric properties of maternity PROMs published in the scientific literature.

METHODS

MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO and Embase were systematically searched for relevant records between 01/01/2010 and 07/10/2021. Included articles underwent risk of bias, content validity and psychometric properties assessments in line with COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidance. PROM results were summarised according to language subgroups and an overall recommendation for use was determined.

FINDINGS

Forty-four studies reported on the development and psychometric evaluation of 9 maternity PROMs, grouped into 32 language subgroups. Risk of bias assessments for the PROM development and content validity showed inadequate or doubtful methodological quality. Internal consistency reliability, hypothesis testing (for construct validity), structural validity and test-retest reliability varied markedly in sufficiency and evidence quality. No PROMs received a level 'A' recommendation, required for real-world use.

CONCLUSION

Maternity PROMs identified in this systematic review had poor quality evidence for their measurement properties and lacked sufficient content validity, indicating a lack of woman-centricity in instrument development. Future research should prioritise women's voices in deciding what is relevant, comprehensive and comprehensible to measure, as this will impact overall validity and reliability and facilitate real-world use.

Measuring what matters in healthcare: a practical guide to psychometric principles and instrument development

The provision of quality healthcare relies on scales and measures with robust evidence of their psychometric properties. Using measurement instruments with poor reliability, validity, or feasibility, or those that are not appropriate for the target diagnostic group or construct/dimension under consideration, may be unfavorable for patients, unproductive, and hinder empirical advancement. Resources from the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) group can assist in identifying and developing psychometrically sound measures. The COSMIN initiative is the only international, research-based practice taxonomy and methodological guidelines for measurement in healthcare. This manuscript aims to provide an accessible introduction to theories, principles and practices of psychometrics, instrument properties, and scale development, with applied examples from the COSMIN recommendations. It describes why measurement in healthcare is critical to good practice, explains the concepts of the latent variable and hypothetical construct and their importance in healthcare assessments, explores issues of flawed measurement and briefly explains key theories relevant to psychometrics. The paper also outlines a ten-step process to develop and validate a new measurement instrument, with examples drawn from a recently developed visuoperceptual measure for analysis of disordered swallowing to demonstrate key concepts and provides a guide for understanding properties of and terminology related to measurement instruments. This manuscript serves as a resource for healthcare clinicians, educators, and researchers who seek to develop and validate new measurement instruments or improve the properties of existing ones. It highlights the importance of using psychometrically sound measurement instruments to ensure high-quality healthcare assessments.