Analyzing differential item functioning of the Nottingham Health Profile by Mixed Rasch Model

Cardiac Rehabilitation Program Effect on Health-Related Quality of Life Among Patients With Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) necessitates modification in patients' lifestyle after discharge, which leads to a decrease in their health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Hence, cardiac rehabilitation programs (CRPs) are needed. This study aimed to explore the effect of a CRP on HRQOL and physiological factors on CABG patients after discharge. The study used a quasiexperimental pre-/posttest design. Two experimental and control groups tested with 30 patients with CABG surgery participated in a rehabilitation center after discharge. The Arabic version of the Nottingham Health Profile for measuring HRQOL was used. In addition to several sociodemographic and physiological variables, findings indicated a significant improvement in HRQOL and its domains for the experimental group after CRP (mean = 2.06, SD = 1.7) when compared with the control group (mean = 19.9, SD = 3.1; P = .01), as well as some physiological variables 3 months after surgery. The CRP is an important intervention that administrators and cardiologists should take into consideration for CABG patients. It improves not just their HRQOL but also many physiological indicators.

Validity, reliability, and Rasch analysis of the orthotics and prosthetics users' survey: Turkish version of the lower-extremity functional status

BACKGROUND

It is well known that questionnaires and scales are easy to use, cheap, and provide fast results. In the clinical setting, it will be easier and more comfortable to evaluate lower-extremity functions in both prosthesis and orthosis users with a single questionnaire.

OBJECTIVES

To study the Turkish version of the orthotics and prosthetics users' survey lower-extremity functional status (OPUS-LEFS) and investigate its reliability and validity in the Turkish prosthesis and orthosis users.

STUDY DESIGN

After forward and backward translation process, test-retest, internal consistency, validity, dimensionality, and Rasch analysis were done for 139 participants.

METHODS

Participants with a lower-limb prosthesis or orthosis were recruited in this study. Test and retest of the survey was done 1-3 days apart. For convergent validity, Nottingham Health Profile was used. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze test-retest reliability; Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency, Spearman's correlation coefficient for validity, exploratory factor analysis by means of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett's value of sphericity for dimensionality, and Rasch analysis were used.

RESULTS

Test-retest reliability of OPUS-LEFS showed very strong correlation (0.994) and for internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha value 0.71 of the Turkish version of OPUS-LEFS. Analyses showed that OPUS-LEFS is valid ( p < 0.001) and significant ( p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The Turkish version of the OPUS-LEFS has been shown to be a valid and reliable tool in evaluating both orthosis and prosthesis users with a self-administered questionnaire for LEFS.

Validity and reliability of the Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire (HDFQ): a Rasch measurement model approach

AIM

The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of Turkish version of the Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire (HDFQ) as a measure to evaluate heart disease risk knowledge in individuals with diabetes.

METHODS

This study was conducted in the primary care clinic on 326 individuals with type 2 diabetes. The Davis Method, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and the Rasch Measurement Model used in the validity and reliability analyses.

RESULTS

The validity analysis results showed Turkish version of HDFQ was content valid. The results of CFA showed the index results were very good fit. All items of the scale and the HDFQ were fit to the Rasch model and the items did not contain any differential item function. Person Separation Index showed HDFQ is reliable tool.

CONCLUSIONS

The Rasch Model provides an alternative way in dealing with the challenges faced in classic methods and it is recommended to be used in health sciences. Thus, the results of this study are important. Results show that the Turkish version of the HDFQ can be used for determining awareness of heart disease risk as well as for assessing the effectiveness of implemented interventions among individuals with diabetes.