Should indicators be correlated? Formative indicators for healthcare quality measurement

Practices for Reporting Scale Structure and Summarizing Scores in Studies Using FAMCARE Scale to Assess Caregiver Satisfaction with Cancer Care: A Scoping Review

Background

Satisfaction with care is a concept quantified through diverse measurement tools. However, studies have indicated that measuring satisfaction is challenging due to the construct's multidimensional expression. Thus, obtaining valid results requires careful consideration of the construct's nature and measurement methods.

Purpose

The primary aim of this study was to examine how studies involving cancer caregivers have addressed the dimensionality of the construct when using satisfaction with care as an outcome, and whether this is reflected in the score reporting practices. We chose to investigate this by conducting a scoping review of the measurement tool Family Satisfaction with End-of-Life Care Scale (FAMCARE Scale), where scores can be reported as the mean of overall score, subscale scores and single-item scores.

Methods

This scoping review consisted of systematic searches using Medline, CINAHL, Embase, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, and Epistemonikos. Two researchers used the Rayyan Qatar Computing Research Institute system to perform a blinded screening process. We extracted information on study design, purpose, evaluating of structural validity, variations in the type of scores reported, and justification for choosing the type(s) of scores that were analyzed.

Results

Twenty-three studies were included in the review, and their designs and reporting practices of score type varied substantially. Five studies reported analyses to test the scale's structural validity. Ten studies provided a justification for their choice of reporting method. The most common reporting practice found was using mean of overall scores, present in 20 of the included studies. Twelve studies reported mean of subscale scores, and ten reported single-item mean scores.

Conclusion

We found substantial variability in score reporting practices, highlighting the need for a more in-depth understanding and reflection on the multidimensional nature of caregiver satisfaction.

Revisiting the meaning and the source of health-related constructs and their applications in neurodisability

The aim of this review is to revisit the meaning of common concepts and frameworks promoted to capture subjective outcomes of patients, the content of their corresponding measurements, and the preferred sources of the information of interest. This is important because conceptualizations of 'health' and the subject evaluations thereof continue to evolve. Related but distinct concepts like quality of life (QoL), health-related QoL (HRQoL), functional status, health status, and well-being are often used indiscriminately to assess clinical impacts of interventions and to influence decisions about patient care and policymaking. The discussion addresses and illustrates the following issues: (1) the required features of effective and valid health-related concepts; (2) understanding underlying factors that often create confusion about QoL and HRQoL; and (3) how these concepts provide insight into, and promote, health in the context of populations with neurodisability. The hope is to illustrate how a combination of a clear research question, a hypothesis, conceptualization of the required outcomes, and operational definitions of the domains and items of interest, including item mapping, can help to achieve robust methodology and valid findings beyond the required psychometric properties. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: The language, content, and the source of perceived health and life issues are clarified. Using the same terms for different constructs, or different terms for the same constructs, creates confusion and hinders outcome research. The challenges of using patient-reported outcomes in neurodisability are addressed.

Patientenzentrierte Qualitätssicherung durch PREMs und PROMs: Befragungen von Patientinnen und Patienten mit einer perkutanen Koronarintervention (PCI) und Koronarangiografie

BACKGROUND

The Institute of Quality Assurance and Transparency in Health Care (IQTIG) was commissioned by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) to include the patient perspective in the quality assurance programme for patients undergoing percutaneous cardiac intervention (PCI) and coronary angiography ("QS PCI"). This article describes both the development methodology and the survey-based quality indicators.

METHODS

On the basis of a systematic literature research, focus groups with patients, interviews with doctors and an expert group meeting, quality criteria were defined which were relevant to patients. These criteria were translated into PREMs and PROMs. The questionnaires were subjected to a two-phase pretest. Quality indicators were composed by aggregating the items.

RESULTS

Altogether, 12 topic areas were identified which are relevant to patients receiving percutaneous cardiac intervention or coronary angiography. Here, communication and interaction were of high importance. In addition, information before, during and after the procedure was very relevant, and, likewise, the health care professionals' interaction with patients. Also, symptoms and treatment effects were important. In accordance with the defined topics, 19 quality indicators were developed which can display quality of health care from the patients' perspective.

CONCLUSION

The development of PREMs and PROMs expanded the quality assurance programme "QS PCI" to include significant dimensions relevant to patients, which can, therefore, provide valuable information to improve patient-centred care.

Empirical study of factors that influence the perceived usefulness of online mental health community members

Online mental health communities have become a major platform where individuals can talk about their mental health problems and obtain social support. This study aims to understand the antecedents of perceived usefulness among members in an online mental health community, while providing reference for the managers and users of online mental health communities. We obtained a total of 143,190 posts from ReachOut.com released by the CLPsych2017 shared task. Then, we used text mining to derive the independent and dependent variables. Next, a structural equation model observing the perceived usefulness of online mental health community members was constructed from the perspective of an information adoption model. The informativeness of help-seeking posts had a significant positive relationship with the information quality of reply posts; the information quality of reply posts was a significant positive predictor of perceived usefulness, with the information quality of reply posts partially mediating the relationship between the informativeness of help-seeking posts and perceived usefulness. The information provided by online mental health community members' help-seeking posts and the quality of replies were found to be the factors that influenced perceived usefulness. This study highlights the importance of the information quality of reply posts and provides useful insights for administrators who can help users to improve their response quality and obtain the support they need.