PROMIS® General Life Satisfaction scale: construct validity in musculoskeletal pain patients

BACKGROUND

Life satisfaction is part of subjective well-being. Measurement of life satisfaction is undertaken using self-report measures. This study aimed to evaluate the structural validity, concurrent validity, and internal structure of the PROMIS® General Life Satisfaction Scale (GLSS) in a musculoskeletal pain cohort.

METHOD

Consecutive new patients attending the Victoria University Osteopathy Clinic (Melbourne, Australia) were invited to complete the GLSS prior to their initial consultation. Structural validity and internal structure were explored using confirmatory factor analysis and Mokken scale analysis. Concurrent validity was evaluated against a single-item measure of life satisfaction.

RESULTS

The PROMIS® GLSS comprised a single factor and formed an acceptable Mokken scale in this population. No differential item functioning was observed. A large positive correlation (r = 0.70) was observed between the General Life Satisfaction scale and a single-item measure of life satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

The PROMIS® General Life Satisfaction scale demonstrated acceptable internal structure and structural validity in a musculoskeletal pain population. Additional research is required to explore concurrent validity and other measurement properties, however initial data suggests the measure could be a feasible screen of life satisfaction for Australian osteopathic patients.

Life satisfaction and musculoskeletal complaints in a population seeking osteopathy care: consecutive sample of 611 patients

Background

Life satisfaction is a component of the subjective well-being construct. Research consistently suggests that life satisfaction is associated with enhanced social benefits and improved health outcomes. However, its relationship to musculoskeletal health outcomes is underexplored. This study evaluates the life satisfaction of a patient population presenting with musculoskeletal complaints, and the relationship of life satisfaction with other health demographics and behaviours.

Method

The study used a consecutive sampling design. Patients attending the Victoria University Osteopathy Clinic (Melbourne, Australia) were invited to complete the PROMIS® General Life Satisfaction scale (GLSS) along with questions related to health demographics and behaviours.

Results

The GLSS T-score was not significantly different for gender, being born outside of Australia, speaking English at home, or complaint chronicity.

Conclusions

Life satisfaction did not appear to be related to a range of health and demographic variables in the current musculoskeletal pain cohort. The PROMIS® General Life Satisfaction scale could prove useful to explore the relationship between life satisfaction and treatment outcomes for musculoskeletal complaints.

Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Kannada Version of EAT 10

BACKGROUND

Eating Assessment Tool 10 is a symptom survey and has several advantages over other existing questionnaires. The instrument has also proven to be useful in establishing initial dysphagia symptom severity and to aid in measuring treatment outcomes. Due to its wide applicability, the instrument has been translated into several languages. The aim of the present study was to translate and validate the Kannada version of Eating Assessment Tool 10.

METHOD

88 individuals with dysphagia and equal number of healthy individuals filled the Kannada version of Eating Assessment Tool. Internal consistency and test-retest reproducibility were used for reliability testing. Validity was also established by comparing the scores of dysphagia patients and healthy controls.

RESULTS

The overall Cronbach's α for the tool was 0.9 indicating a good internal consistency. The internal consistency of each of the items was also high, and ranged 0.88 to 0.9. Twenty patients filled the questionnaire after a span of 48 h, and the ICC coefficient was found to be 0.89 indicating a high reliability. The control group has significantly lower scores for all scales when compared to the dysphagia group [t(174) = 78.41, p < 0.001].

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrates that the Kannada version of EAT 10 has good internal consistency, test retest reliability, and concurrent validity. The results of the study also reveal that it is a reliable and valid tool for screening dysphagia population.

A preliminary report on the development of a validated tool for measuring psychosocial outcomes for massive weight loss patients

AIM

To validate the newly developed patient report outcome measure (PROM): the Post Bariatric Outcome Tool (PBOT). The tool is designed and developed for massive weight loss patients seeking body contouring procedures.

METHOD

The PBOT was piloted with three cohorts: massive weight loss patients seeking body contouring; massive weight loss patients who have had body contouring; and healthy, non-obese subjects as controls matched for age and gender. Each cohort completed two PROMS at week one, and then for a second time at week three. The PROMS used were the new Post Bariatric Outcome Tool (PBOT) and the Derriford Appearance Scale 24 (DAS24).

CONCLUSION

The PBOT was shown to be reliable both in terms of its internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Comparison to the DAS24 demonstrated the PBOT to be valid. However, the cohorts were small and responsiveness was not tested. This needs to be tested in further larger validation studies, ideally, with comparison to functional scales such as the SF-36 or other validated massive weight loss body contouring PROMs; such as the Body Q.