Application of Rasch Analysis for Development and Psychometric Properties of Adolescents’ Quality of Life Instruments: A Systematic Review

• Main Authors: Dabaghi S, Esmaielzadeh F, Rohani C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-11-01
• Series: Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics
• Subjects: adolescence; instrument; psychometric; quality of life; rasch analysis; systematic review
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/application-of-rasch-analysis-for-development-and-psychometric-propert-peer-reviewed-article-AHMT

Sahar Dabaghi,1 Fatemeh Esmaielzadeh,1 Camelia Rohani2,3 1Student Research Committee, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Community Health Nursing Department, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University College, Campus Ersta, Stockholm SE-100 61, SwedenCorrespondence: Camelia RohaniErsta Sköndal Bräcke University College, Campus Ersta, Stigbergsgatan 30, Box 11189, Stockholm SE-100 61, SwedenTel [phone]Email [e-mail]: Due to the importance of assessing quality of life (QoL) in healthy and ill adolescents, the evaluation of psychometric properties of these questionnaires is important.Objective: To investigate the application of Rasch analysis in psychometric assessment studies on adolescents’ QoL instruments, and to evaluate the quality of reporting Rasch parameters in these studies.Methods: This systematic review was conducted by searching for papers in electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Scopus until December 2018.Results: After screening 122 papers, 31 remained in the study. Around 68% of the studies used the Rasch analysis for instrument testing and 32% for the development of new instruments. In 77.4% of studies, both classical and Rasch methods were used parallel to data analysis. In 32.2% of studies, healthy adolescents were the main target group. The most commonly used instrument in Rasch studies was, KIDSCREEN, administered in different countries. Six Rasch parameters were reported with a higher percentage in the studies. Major reported parameters of Rasch analysis were application of the software program (96.7%), test of item fit to the Rasch model (93.5%), unidimensionality (80.6%), type of the identified mathematical Rasch model (74.1%), threshold (58%) and differential item functioning (54.8%). Based on the psychometric evaluation of the QoL instruments, 71% of studies showed acceptable results.Conclusion: The application of the Rasch model for psychometric assessment of adolescents’ QoL questionnaires has increased in recent decades. But, there is still no strong and commonly used critical appraisal tool or guideline for the evaluation of these papers.Keywords: adolescence, instrument, psychometric, quality of life, Rasch analysis, systematic review