Health Qual Life Out
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2009
Internal construct validity of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): a Rasch analysis using data from the Scottish Health Education Population Survey.
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) was developed to meet demand for instruments to measure mental well-being. It comprises 14 positively phrased Likert-style items and fulfils classic criteria for scale development. We report here the internal construct validity of WEMWBS from the perspective of the Rasch measurement model. ⋯ A short 7 item version of WEMWBS was found to satisfy the strict unidimensionality expectations of the Rasch model, and be largely free of bias. This scale, SWEMWBS, provides a raw score-interval scale transformation for use in parametric procedures. In terms of face validity, SWEMWBS presents a more restricted view of mental well-being than the 14 item WEMWBS, with most items representing aspects of psychological and eudemonic well-being, and few covering hedonic well-being or affect. However, robust measurement properties combined with brevity make SWEMWBS preferable to WEMWBS at present for monitoring mental well-being in populations. Where face validity is an issue there remain arguments for continuing to collect data on the full 14 item WEMWBS.
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2009
Measuring patient's expectation and the perception of quality in LASIK services.
LASIK is the use of excimer lasers to treat therapeutic and refractive visual disorders, ranging from superficial scars to nearsightedness (myopia), and from astigmatism to farsightedness (hyperopia). The purposes of this study are to checking the applicability and psychometric properties of the SERVQUAL on Lasik surgery population. Second, use SEM methods to investigate the loyalty, perceptions and expectations relationship on LASIK surgery. ⋯ The results of this research appear to show that the SERVQUAL instrument is a useful measurement tool in assessing and monitoring service quality in LASIK service, and enabling staff to identify where improvements are needed, from the patients' perspective. There were service quality gaps in the reliability, assurance, and empathy. This study suggested that physicians should increase their discussions with patients; which has, of course, already been proven to be an effective way to increase patient's satisfaction with medical care, regardless of the procedure received.
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2009
Validation of the clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) in primary care.
Patient centred outcomes, such as health status, are important in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Extensive questionnaires on health status have good measurement properties, but are not suitable for use in primary care. The newly developed, short Clinical COPD Questionnaire, CCQ, was therefore validated against the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). ⋯ The CCQ is a valid and reliable instrument for assessments of health status on the group level in patients treated for COPD in primary care but its reliability may not be sufficient for the monitoring of individual patients.
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2009
Assessing the empirical validity of alternative multi-attribute utility measures in the maternity context.
Multi-attribute utility measures are preference-based health-related quality of life measures that have been developed to inform economic evaluations of health care interventions. The objective of this study was to compare the empirical validity of two multi-attribute utility measures (EQ-5D and SF-6D) based on hypothetical preferences in a large maternity population in England. ⋯ This study provides evidence that the SF-6D is an empirically valid and efficient alternative multi-attribute utility measure to the EQ-5D, and is capable of discriminating between external indicators of maternal health.
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2009
The health-related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis: a comparison with a selected sample of healthy people.
The health-related quality of life (HRQL) is an important indicator of the burden of musculoskeletal disease. The Medical Outcome Study Short-Term 36 (SF-36) is the most used tool that evaluates HRQL as a subjective perception about psychological and physical limitations due to an underlying illness. The purpose of this study was to compare the HRQL scores among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and a selected sample of health people and determine their relationship with measures of clinical condition. ⋯ Chronic IRD have a clearly detrimental effect on the HRQL in both sex and in age groups, and physical domain is more impaired than mental and social ones.