Matthew L Cohen1, Pamela A Kisala, Aaron J Boulton, Noelle E Carlozzi, Christine V Cook, David S Tulsky. 1. Departments of Communication Sciences and Disorders (Dr Cohen and Ms Cook), Psychological and Brain Sciences (Drs Cohen and Tulsky), and Physical Therapy (Dr Tulsky) and Center for Health Assessment Research and Translation (Drs Cohen, Kisala, Boulton, and Tulsky, and Ms Kisala), University of Delaware, Newark; and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Dr Carlozzi).
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To develop an item response theory (IRT)-based patient-reported outcome measure of functional communication for adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). SETTING: Five medical centers that were TBI Model Systems sites. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 569 adults with TBI (28% complicated-mild; 13% moderate; and 58% severe). DESIGN: Grounded theory-based qualitative item development, large-scale item calibration testing, confirmatory factor analyses, psychometric analyses with graded response model IRT. MAIN MEASURE: Traumatic Brain Injury-Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) Communication Item Bank, version 1.0. RESULTS: From an initial pool of 48 items, 31 items were retained in the final instrument based on adequate fit to a unidimensional model and absence of bias across several demographic and clinical subgroupings. The TBI-QOL Communication Item Bank demonstrated excellent score precision (reliability ≥ 0.95) across a wide range of communication impairment levels, particularly for individuals with more severe difficulties. The TBI-QOL Communication Item Bank is available as a full item bank, fixed-length short form, and as a computerized adaptive test. CONCLUSIONS: The TBI-QOL Communication Item Bank permits precise measurement of patient-reported functional communication after TBI. Future development will validate the instrument against performance-based, clinician-reported, and surrogate-reported assessments.
OBJECTIVE: To develop an item response theory (IRT)-based patient-reported outcome measure of functional communication for adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). SETTING: Five medical centers that were TBI Model Systems sites. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 569 adults with TBI (28% complicated-mild; 13% moderate; and 58% severe). DESIGN: Grounded theory-based qualitative item development, large-scale item calibration testing, confirmatory factor analyses, psychometric analyses with graded response model IRT. MAIN MEASURE: Traumatic Brain Injury-Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) Communication Item Bank, version 1.0. RESULTS: From an initial pool of 48 items, 31 items were retained in the final instrument based on adequate fit to a unidimensional model and absence of bias across several demographic and clinical subgroupings. The TBI-QOL Communication Item Bank demonstrated excellent score precision (reliability ≥ 0.95) across a wide range of communication impairment levels, particularly for individuals with more severe difficulties. The TBI-QOL Communication Item Bank is available as a full item bank, fixed-length short form, and as a computerized adaptive test. CONCLUSIONS: The TBI-QOL Communication Item Bank permits precise measurement of patient-reported functional communication after TBI. Future development will validate the instrument against performance-based, clinician-reported, and surrogate-reported assessments.
Authors: Callie E Tyner; Pamela A Kisala; Aaron J Boulton; Mark Sherer; Nancy D Chiaravalloti; Angelle M Sander; Tamara Bushnik; David S Tulsky Journal: Front Hum Neurosci Date: 2022-03-04 Impact factor: 3.169