Rasch Analysis of the Quality of Life and Vision Function Questionnaire (original) (raw)

Psychometric properties of visual functioning index using Rasch analysis

Acta Ophthalmologica, 2010

Purpose: The visual functioning index (VFI) was one of the first questionnaires developed using classical test theory to assess outcomes of cataract surgery. However, it was not Rasch-validated. The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the VFI using Rasch analysis in patients with cataract. Methods: The 11-item VFI was self-administered to 243 patients (mean age 73.9 years) drawn from a cataract surgery waiting list. We examined the response category thresholds, item fit statistics, differential item functioning and unidimensionality for the VFI and its three subscales. Results: Category thresholds were ordered. The person separation and reliability were low, indicating the poor discriminatory ability of the VFI. No items misfit but there was suboptimal targeting of item difficulty to patient ability. On the whole the items in the VFI were too easy for the sample. Only one item showed moderate differential item functioning. Conclusion: The VFI does not meet the stringent requirements of the Rasch model. However adding more items to suit the more able patients with cataract as well as those awaiting second-eye cataract surgery could optimize the VFI.

An Evaluation of the 10-item Vision Core Measure 1 (VCM1) Scale (the Core Module of the Vision-Related Quality of Life scale) Using Rasch Analysis

Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 2008

To assess and re-engineer the Vision Core Measure 1 (VCM1) questionnaire in low vision (LV) and cataract participants using Rasch analysis. Methods: 295 participants drawn from a low vision clinic and 181 from a cataract surgery waiting list completed the 10-item VCM1. Unidimensionality, item fit to the model, response category performance, differential item functioning (DIF) and targeting of items to patients were assessed. Category collapsing and item removal were considered to improve the questionnaire. Results: The initial fit of the VCM1 (combined populations) to the Rasch model showed lack of fit (χ2 = 83.3, df = 50, p = 0.002). There was evidence of DIF between the two populations which could not be resolved. Consequently, each population was assessed separately. Irrespective of the population, disordering of response category thresholds was evident. However, collapsing categories produced ordered thresholds and resulted in fit to the Rasch model for the LV (Total χ2 = 41.6, df = 30; p = 0.08) and cataract population (Total χ2 = 17.9, df = 20, p = 0.59). Overall, the VCM1 behaved as a unidimensional scale for each population and no item showed evidence of DIF. Item targeting to patients was however sub-optimal particularly for the cataract population. Conclusion: The VCM1 questionnaire could be improved by shortening the response scale, although different response categories are required for cataract and LV populations. Calibration of items also differed across populations. While the VCM1 performs well within the Rasch model, in line with its initial purpose, it requires the addition of items to satisfactorily target low vision and cataract populations.

Validity of a visual impairment questionnaire in measuring cataract surgery outcomes

Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, 2008

Cataract patients, recruited from a hospital waiting list, completed the IVI questionnaire. The scale was assessed for fit to the Rasch model. Unidimensionality, item and person fit to the model, response category performance, differential item functioning (DIF, whether different subgroups respond differently) and targeting of item difficulty to patient ability were assessed.

The Activities of Daily Vision Scale for Cataract Surgery Outcomes: Re-evaluating Validity with Rasch Analysis

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 2003

PURPOSE. The Activities of Daily Vision Scale (ADVS) has been extensively validated by traditional methodology. In the current study, Rasch analysis was used to explore further the validity of the ADVS and to determine whether improvements could be made. METHODS. Forty-three patients with cataract underwent visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) testing and completed the ADVS. The data were Rasch analyzed and the value of response scale and item reduction explored. A shortened version and the original ADVS were tested for criterion validity by determining correlations with VA and CS. RESULTS. The ADVS data contained nonnormally distributed items and items with ceiling effects and empty response categories. Therefore, items benefited from shortening the response scale, the optimum length being three responses. There was poor targeting of item difficulty to patient ability, because many patients with cataract were sufficiently able that they had no difficulty with many activities. Items were eliminated if the task was too easy or did not fit with the overall concept of visual disability determined by the Rasch model. A reduced ADVS version was established that had adequate precision, equivalent criterion validity, and improved targeting of item difficulty to patient ability, but this version was still not ideal. CONCLUSIONS. Despite careful traditional validation, the ADVS data contained inadequacies exposed by Rasch analysis. Through Rasch scaling, particularly with response scale reduction, the ADVS can be improved, but additional questions seem to be needed to suit the more able, including patients undergoing second eye cataract surgery. There remains a need to develop Rasch-scaled measures of visual disability for use in ophthalmic outcomes research. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.

Cat-PROM5: a brief psychometrically robust self-report questionnaire instrument for cataract surgery

Eye, 2018

Purpose To develop a short, psychometrically robust and responsive cataract patient reported outcome measure suitable for use in high-volume surgical environments. Methods A prospective study in which participants completed development versions of questionnaires exploring the quality of their eyesight using items harvested from two existing United Kingdom developed parent questionnaires. Participants were 822 patients awaiting cataract surgery recruited from 4 cataract surgical centres based in the UK. Exclusion criteria were other visually significant comorbidities and age o50 years. An iterative multi-stage process of evaluation using Rasch and factor analyses with sequential item reduction was undertaken. Results A definitive item set of just five items delivered performance in accordance with the requirements of the Rasch model: no threshold disordering, no misfitting items, Rasch-based reliability 0.90, person separation 2.98, Cronbach's α 0.89, good targeting of questions to patients with cataract with pre-operative item mean − 0.41 logits and absence of significant floor or ceiling effects, minor deviations of item invariance, and confirmed unidimensionality. The test-re-test repeatability intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.89 with excellent responsiveness to surgery, Cohen's d − 1.45 SD. Rasch calibration values are provided for Cat-PROM5 users. Conclusions A psychometrically robust and highly responsive five-item cataract surgery patient reported outcome measure has been developed, which is suitable for use in highvolume cataract surgical services.

Vision and Quality of Life Index: Validation of the Indian Version Using Rasch Analysis

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 2013

PURPOSE. A multi-attribute utility instrument (MAUI) consists of a descriptive system in which the items and responses seek information about a concept of the universe of healthrelated quality of life (QoL), and responses to these items then are weighted and combined to produce the index. To our knowledge, the 6-item Vision and Quality of Life Index (VisQoL) is the only available vision-related MAUI, developed and validated in Australia, specifically for visually impaired (VI) populations. To our knowledge, the psychometric properties of the VisQoL have not yet been investigated in an Indian VI sample; this was the aim of our study. METHODS. The Indian VisQoL was administered to 349 VI adults face-to-face by a trained interviewer at the Vision Rehabilitation Centres of a tertiary eye care facility, South India. Rasch analysis was used to assess the psychometric properties. RESULTS. Rescoring was necessary for all except one item before ordered thresholds were obtained. All items fit the Rasch model and unidimensionality was confirmed. Person separation was acceptable (2.01), indicating that the instrument can discriminate among three strata of participants'' vision-related QoL (VRQoL). The VisQoL items were targeted substantially to the participants'' VRQoL (À0.69 logits). One item (''ability to have friendships'') demonstrated large differential item functioning by work status; working participants reported the item to be more difficult (À1.13 logits) relative to other items when compared to the nonworking participants. CONCLUSIONS. The 6-item Indian VisQoL satisfies unidimensional Rasch model expectations in VI patients. Disordering of response categories was evident; replication is required before a common rescoring option should be considered.