Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Health Sciences Evidence-based Practice Questionnaire into Japanese and Its Test-Retest Reliability in Undergraduate Students

Cross-cultural adaptation of the pain understanding and confidence questionnaire into Japanese

[Purpose] This study aimed to develop a culturally adapted Japanese version of the Pain Understanding and Confidence Questionnaire (PUnCQ). The first-factor structure describes management from 12 perspectives for a case vignette of chronic pain and determines whether the management is based on a biomedical or biopsychosocial perspective. The second-factor structure evaluates the confidence level in management skills for the same case from 21 perspectives. [Participants and Methods] We conducted a cross-cultural adaptation based on five stages according to Beaton's guidelines (two forward translations, creation of an integrated forward translation version, two backward translations, creation of a provisional Japanese version, and a pilot test). In the pilot test, we asked 40 Japanese physical therapists to rate their understanding of the PUnCQ descriptions on a five-point Likert scale (1, not at all understandable; 5, completely understandable) and provide comments when they rated 1 to 3. We repeated revisions and pilot tests until less than 10% of the respondents rated 1 for all descriptions. [Results] By conducting two rounds of the pilot test, all items of descriptions satisfied the preestablished criteria. [Conclusion] A Japanese version of the PUnCQ was developed.

Human–Machine Systems Reliability: A Series–Parallel Approach for Evaluation and Improvement in the Field of Machine Tools

Machine workshops generate high scrap rates, causing non-compliance with timely delivery and high production costs. Due to their natural characteristics of a low volume, high-mix production batches, and serial and parallel configurations, generally the causes of their failure are not well documented. Thus, to reduce the scrap rate, and evaluate and improve their reliability, their system characteristics must be considered. Based on them, our proposed methodology allows us to evaluate the system, subsystem, and component–subsystem relationship by using either the Weibull and/or the exponential distribution. The strategy to improve the system performance includes reliability tools, expert interviews, cluster analysis, and root-cause analysis. In the application case, the failure sources were found to be mechanical and human errors. The component maintenance/setup, institutional conditions/attitude, and subsystem process/operation were the machine factors that presented the lowest reliability indices. The improved activities were monitored based on the Weibull β and η parameters that affect the system reliability. Finally, by using a life–effort analysis, and the method of comparative analysis of two sequential periods, we identified the causes that generated a change in the Weibull parameters. The contribution of this methodology lies in the grouping of the tools in the proposed application context.

Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Knowledge and Attitude of Pain into Japanese and Test–retest Reliability in Undergraduate Students

Objectives:

Pain neuroscience education (PNE) has been shown to be effective in reducing pain in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Knowledge of pain physiology is necessary to undertake PNE, and a measure for such knowledge is necessary. The Knowledge and Attitudes of Pain (KNAP), a comprehensive assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding pain for healthcare practitioners, was developed in 2020 through the assessment of construct validity, reliability, and responsiveness in Dutch and English. This study aimed to conduct cross-cultural adaptation of the KNAP into Japanese and to verify test–retest reliability among Japanese undergraduate physical therapy and occupational therapy students.

Methods:

Cross-cultural adaptation was performed using Beaton’s five-step process. Subsequently, the KNAP was completed by participants with a 2-week interval. The study included second-, third-, and fourth-year undergraduate physical therapy and occupational therapy students.

Results:

A total of 50 students participated in the pilot test and a Japanese version of KNAP was created. Thirty-nine students completed the Japanese version of KNAP twice. Of the 30 items on the KNAP, the quadratic weighted kappa value was less than 0.4 for only one item (item 15), but reliability was interpreted as sufficient for the overall score, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (95% confidence interval) for the total score of 0.89 (0.80–0.94).

Conclusions:

This study has developed the Japanese KNAP, which has shown preliminary evidence of adequate test–retest reliability in Japanese undergraduate physical therapy and occupational therapy students.

Rasch Analysis of Self-Reported Adherence to Patient-Centered Physical Therapy Scale among Japanese Physical Therapists: Cross-Sectional Study

This study primarily aimed to develop a shorter version of the self-reported adherence to patient-centered physical therapy (s-SAPCPTS) by using Rasch analysis and secondarily aimed to preliminarily investigate the relationship between the s-SAPCPTS scores and demographics (i.e., age, sex, final academic degree (non-postgraduate degrees or postgraduate degrees), and practice environment). In an online anonymous survey, 110 Japanese physical therapists completed the self-reported adherence to patient-centered physical therapy and provided data on their demographics. Through the Rasch analysis, items were excluded in a stepwise manner, until certain pre-established criteria of the unidimensionality were satisfied. Subsequently, a conversion table for the Rasch score was developed. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis was conducted by using the independent variables age, sex, and final academic degree. Using the Kruskal-Wallis test, we compared the Rasch s-SAPCPTS scores among four practice environments. Consequently, the seven-item s-SAPCPTS was developed by excluding seven items through the Rasch analysis. Postgraduate degree was a statistically significant contributing factor for Rasch s-SAPCPTS scores (p = 0.038, β = 0.20). The Kruskal-Wallis test demonstrated statistically significant differences in the Rasch s-SAPCPTS scores among the four practice environments (p = 0.006). In conclusion, the seven-item s-SAPCPTS was developed with the preliminary evidence of construct validity. It was also found that the final academic degree and practice environment could be the contributing factors of s-SAPCPTS scores.