Development and psychometric characteristics of the TBI-QOL communication item bank

Model System:

TBI

Reference Type:

Journal article

Accession No.:

J81977

Journal:

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation

Year, Volume, Issue, Page(s):

2019 , 34, 5, 326-339

Publication Website:

Abstract:

Study developed and tested an item response theory (IRT)-based patient-reported outcome measure of functional communication for adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) as part of the Traumatic Brain Injury-Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) measurement system. The TBI-QOL Communication Item Bank, version 1.0. was developed using data collected at five TBI Model Systems rehabilitation centers in the United States from 569 adults with TBI. Grounded theory-based qualitative item development, large-scale item calibration testing, confirmatory factor analyses, psychometric analyses with graded response model IRT. 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. 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.

Author(s):