Measuring grief and loss after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL grief and loss item bank and short form

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Article describes the development and psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury – Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Grief and Loss item bank and short form. A literature review guided framework development of grief/loss. New items were created from focus groups. Items were revised based on expert review and patient feedback and were then field tested. Analyses included confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory calibration, and evaluation of differential item functioning (DIF). A 20-item pool was tested at several rehabilitation centers across the United States, including 5 SCI Model System centers and one Veterans Affairs medical center. A total of 717 individuals with SCI answered the grief and loss questions. The final calibrated item bank resulted in 17 retained items. A unidimensional model was observed and measurement precision was good. Ten items were flagged for DIF; however, after examination of effect sizes found this to be negligible with little practical impact on score estimates. The SCI-QOL Grief and Loss item bank represents a psychometrically robust measurement tool. Short-form items are also suggested and computer adaptive tests are available.

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