Health Qual Life Out
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Health Qual Life Out · Aug 2015
Fatigue in Egyptian patients with rheumatic diseases: a qualitative study.
Fatigue is frequent in rheumatic diseases. Fatigue expression and consequences may be modified by cultural differences. Our objective was to increase the understanding of the fatigue experience and characteristics among Egyptian, Muslim patients with rheumatic diseases. ⋯ This study gives insights regarding fatigue in rheumatic diseases in an Arabic and Muslim culture. Similarities and differences with previous studies were noted and should be taken into account when assessing these patients.
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Health Qual Life Out · Aug 2015
A psychometric assessment of the St. George's respiratory questionnaire in patients with COPD using Rasch model analysis.
The St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) was a widely used tool to assess disease impact on patients with obstructive airways disease. Although traditional methods have generally supported construct validity and internal consistency reliability of SGRQ, such methods cannot facilitate the evaluation of whether items are equivalent to different individuals. The purpose of this study is to rigorously examine the psychometric properties of the SGRQ in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using Rasch model analysis. ⋯ Except the Symptom domain of SGRQ, the others have a reliabile internal consistency and a good hierarchical structure. The results of Rasch model analysis can highlight aspects for scale improvement, such as gap, duplicate items or scale responses. There was some age or severity related DIF indicating somewhat unstable across different characteristics of group. IRB No.: DMR94-IRB-179.