Psychometric properties of the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Effective management of depression is predicated upon reliable assessment. The Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) is a depression severity scale with both self-rated (QIDS-SR₁₆) and clinician-rated (QIDS-C₁₆) versions. Although widely used in research, the psychometric properties of the QIDS₁₆ have not been systematically reviewed. We performed a systematic review of studies of the psychometric properties (factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, test-retest reliability and responsiveness to change) of the QIDS-SR₁₆ or QIDS-C₁₆. Six databases were searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CinAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Findings were summarised, bias assessed and correlations with reference standards were pooled. 37 studies (17,118 participants) were included in the review. Both versions of the QIDS₁₆ were unidimensional. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.69 to 0.89 for the QIDS-SR₁₆ and 0.65 to 0.87 for the QIDS-C₁₆. The QIDS-SR₁₆ correlated moderately to highly with several depression severity scales. Seven studies were pooled where QIDS-SR₁₆ was correlated with the HRSD-17 (r = 0.76, CI 0.69, 0.81) in patients diagnosed with depression. Four studies examined convergent validity with the QIDS-C₁₆. Four studies examined discriminant validity, for the QIDS-SR₁₆ alone. Eighteen studies had at least one author who was a co-author of the original QIDS₁₆ study. Most studies were conducted in the USA (n = 26). The QIDS-SR₁₆ and the QIDS-C₁₆ are unidimensional rating scales with acceptable internal consistency. To justify the use of the QIDS₁₆ scale in clinical practice, more research is needed on convergent and discriminant validity, and in populations outside the USA.     

Assessing disability in patients with rheumatic diseases: translation,reliability and validity testing of a Greek version of the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)

The purpose of this study was to translate into the Greek language the HAQ, validate its psychometric, and also, to assess the degree to which questions in the scale did address common themes, using exploratory factor analysis. HAQ has been translated into Greek (HAQ-GrV), applied to 53 patients with rheumatic pathology and validated as follows: Cronbach's alpha for the estimation of the internal consistency, and the assessment of test-retest reliability, Spearman's rho for the assessment of concurrent validity, and confirmatory factor analysis. The results showed the following: (a) The HAQ-GrV demonstrated very good internal consistency (alpha: 0.90), (b) test-retest scores produced no significant difference (P = 0.07). Spearman's rho ranged from 0.64 to 0.90 for each item. (c) Spearman's rho between HAQ-GrV and HADS was 0.31 (P < 0.05). (d) Factor analysis identified five factors with Eigen values ranging from 1.26 to 6.98, explaining totally 69.4% of the variance.     

Psychometric evaluation of a patient-reported outcome measure in pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI)

Background/objectives

Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) is commonly caused by chronic pancreatitis (CP) or cystic fibrosis (CF). There are no PEI-specific patient-reported assessments of symptoms and impacts. The PEI Questionnaire (PEI-Q) was developed through qualitative research with PEI patients and expert clinical input. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the PEI-Q.

Lay people's perception of food hazards: comparing aggregated data and individual data

The psychometric paradigm has been used to explain the perception of food hazard risks. In past studies, only aggregated data were analyzed, and individual differences were neglected. In the present study, both aggregated data and non-aggregated data are analyzed. Data stem from a mail survey conducted in Switzerland (N=448). Analyzing aggregated data, results of past studies were successfully replicated. The PCA analysis revealed the two factors "unknown risk" and "dread risk." Results of a three-way component analysis (3MPCA) suggest, that two components explain individual differences in the perception of food hazards. The two components were labeled "unobservable hazards," and "familiar hazards." Individual differences in the cognitive representation of hazards were correlated with attitudes toward natural foods. Results suggest that people who prefer natural foods differ in perceived risks from people who do not prefer natural foods. Results show that methods permitting individual differences are crucial for a better understanding of the cognitive representation of food hazards.     

Incontinence-specific quality of life measures used in trials of treatments for female urinary incontinence: a systematic review

This systematic review examined the use of incontinence-specific quality of life (QOL) measures in clinical trials of female incontinence treatments, and systematically evaluated their quality using a standard checklist. Of 61 trials included in the review, 58 (95.1%) used an incontinence-specific QOL measure. The most commonly used were IIQ (19 papers), I-QoL (12 papers) and UDI (9 papers). Eleven papers (18.0%) used measures which were not referenced or were developed specifically for the study. The eight QOL measures identified had good clinical face validity and measurement properties. We advise researchers to evaluate carefully the needs of their specific study, and select the QOL measure that is most appropriate in terms of validity, utility and relevance, and discourage the development of new measures. Until better evidence is available on the validity and comparability of measures, we recommend that researchers consider using IIQ or I-QOL with or without UDI in trials of incontinence treatments.     

大学生性心理健康特点的定量研究

目的了解大学生性心理健康特点。方法使用《大学生性心理健康问卷》对1700名大学生进行调查。结果问卷总均分为2.14±0.34,性认知和性态度的均分为2.45±0.35和1.93±0.56。总分及性态度男生得分低于女生（t=5.48和8.70,P〈0.01）;总分及性认知高年级得分低于低年级（t=1.99,P〈0.05）;性认知城市学生得分显著低于乡镇学生（t=2.02,P〈0.05）;总分（F=8.12,P〈0.01）及各因子（F=11.31,P〈0.01;F=3.09,P〈0.05）理解支持组得分最低。不同父母态度组别的男、女生得分均存在显著差异（F=4.50和3.96,P〈0.05）,且都是理解支持组得分最低。不同父母态度组别的低年级学生得分也存在显著差异（F=6.04,P〈0.01）,其中中立组得分最低。结论男生、高年级学生、父母理解支持的学生性心理更为健康。     

无法忍受不确定性量表中文版的修订及信效度分析

目的探讨无法忍受不确定性量表（IUS）中文修订版的信度和效度。方法采用中文版IUS先后共测量了930名大学生,选取45名大学生3周后进行重测。采用焦虑自评量表和自评抑郁量表作为效标。结果修订后的IUS共21个项目,探索性因素分析得到一个两因子结构,分别命名为“消极信念和情绪”与“消极行为和自我参照”,累积解释率为42．09％。验证性因素分析结果（X。／af=2．82,GFI=0．90,TLI=0．90,CFI：0．91,RMSEA=0．065）表明两因子结构较为理想。总量表及两个分量表的内部一致性信度分别为0．929,0．885和0．864,重测信度分别为0．782,0．766和0．714。IUS总分及其2个因子分均与焦虑、抑郁得分显著正相关（r=0．489～0．575,P〈0．01）。结论IUS中文修订版具有较好的信度和效度,可作为我国成人无法忍受不确定性的有效评估工具。     

Classification of Drug Permeability with a Caco-2 Cell Monolayer Assay

In the absence of an optimized and validated protocol for the Caco-2 cell drug permeability assay, a more general approach is considered to standardize a method within a laboratory. An assay was evaluated using over 20 model drugs to assess its ability to classify drugs as high or low permeability. This cell culture method is considered to be useful as it established a relationship between experimental permeability values and extent of absorption. This represents an application of regulatory specifications to demonstrate that a cell model is able to determine the permeability class of a drug substance.