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PubMed2005

Acceptability, reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Turkish version of WOMAC osteoarthritis index.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the acceptability, reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Turkish version of Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) osteoarthritis (OA) index in physiotherapy outpatient practice in Turkey. METHOD: Data were obtained from 72 patients with OA of the knee. They were asked to answer two disease-specific questionnaires (WOMAC LK 3.1 and Lequesne-Algofunctional Index of Severity for the knee) and one generic instrument (Medical Outcomes study SF-36 Survey-SF-36). Acceptability was assessed in terms of refusal rate, rates of missing responses, and administration time. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Content validity was assessed by examining the floor and ceiling effects, and skew of the distributions. Convergent and divergent validity was assessed by examining the Pearson's correlation coefficients. Responsiveness was determined by examining effect size (ES), standardized response means (SRM) and P values generated using Wilcoxon's test. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 100%. Alpha values for all WOMAC subscales exceeded the value of 0.70 at both baseline and follow-up assessments. Frequency distributions of scores were symmetrical. Subscales had negligible floor and ceiling effects. Both pain and physical function subscales were fairly correlated with the subscales measuring similar constructs of SF-36, whereas they were weakly correlated with other dimensions of SF-36. A good correlation was obtained between WOMAC total and Lequesne index. The pain and physical function subscales of WOMAC index were the most responsive subscales. CONCLUSION: The Turkish WOMAC OA index is acceptable, valid, reliable and responsive for use in Turkish patients with knee OA.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

The Challenging Behaviour Scale (CBS): development of a scale for staff caring for older people in residential and nursing homes.

OBJECTIVES: A review of behavioural rating scales identified the need for a measure of resident behaviours that staff in care homes for older people find difficult to manage. A 25-item, broad-based rating scale, the Challenging Behaviour Scale (CBS), was developed to meet this need and its psychometric properties were examined. DESIGN: Cross-sectional surveys. METHODS: Ratings of 484 residents, living in 16 homes across England, were used to examine four methods of collecting inter-rater reliability data. Ratings of 382 residents living in 13 homes were used to evaluate criterion validity and to establish norms. Six further homes were used to explore qualitatively the validity of the suggested norms. Ratings of 98 residents living in four further homes were used to examine concurrent validity. The predictive validity of the CBS 'challenge' score was evaluated, using time-sampled direct observation of challenging behaviour in 237 residents, living in 11 homes. RESULTS: The scale records staff reports of the incidence, frequency and 'management difficulty' of resident behaviour and it can also identify 'challenging residents' through a computed score. It has good internal consistency, good test-retest reliability and adequate validity. Inter-rater reliability is good when staff receive training or when staff groups of at least three, of mixed qualifications, complete the scale. Norms are suggested for prospective studies of the prevalence of challenging behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: The CBS is quick to complete and may have potential for the evaluation of psychosocial interventions in care settings. It is, as far as we know, the first staff observational rating scale that is based on the reports of care staff, who constitute the backbone of residential care provision. Suggestions for improvements in criterion and content validity are outlined.

Aged↗

PubMed1997

Improved discriminative and evaluative capability of a refined version of Skindex, a quality-of-life instrument for patients with skin diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To improve Skindex, a dermatologic quality-of-life instrument. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and longitudinal questionnaire study. SETTING: Dermatology clinic of a Veterans Affairs hospital and private dermatology practices. PATIENTS: Patients waiting for dermatology appointments; 201 patients responded to the original version of Skindex and 692 additional patients to the revised version. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Reproducibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity of the revised version of Skindex. The revised version was compared with the original in 3 ways: the amount of time patients need to complete it; discriminative capability, determined as the number of items to which patients chose the same response; and evaluative capability, determined as the number of scales that were responsive to patients' reports of clinical change. RESULTS: With the revised 29-item version of Skindex, scale scores were reproducible after 72 hours (r = 0.88-0.92) and were internally reliable (Cronbach alpha = 0.87-0.96). The instrument demonstrated both construct and content validity; patients with psoriasis and eczema responded with higher scores than those with isolated lesions; in an exploratory principal axes factor analysis with an oblique rotation, 97% of the common variance was explained by 3 factors that correlated with the a priori scales; and most patients' responses to an open-ended question about their skin disease were addressed by items in the instrument. The average time to complete the revised instrument was 5 minutes (compared with 15 minutes for the original version). For only 3 items (10%) did 70% or more of patients choose the same response (vs 17 [28%] of items in the original version). All scales changed significantly in the expected direction in patients who reported that their skin had changed after 3 months (vs only 3 of 8 scales originally). CONCLUSION: The 29-item version of Skindex remains reliable and valid, but has decreased respondent burden and improved discriminative and evaluative capability.

Humans↗

PubMed2005

Development and validation of the Asian version of the oucher: a pain intensity scale for children.

UNLABELLED: The present study was designed to develop and test the validity of the Asian version of the Oucher pain intensity scale, with color photographs of Taiwanese children as the pain intensity cues. A series of 3 studies were conducted. The aim of the first study was to create male and female versions of the Asian Oucher poster. Each poster consisted of 6 color photographs of children's faces, ranging from "no hurt at all" (scored as 0) to the "biggest hurt you could ever have" (scored as 5). In the second study, 220 children aged 3 to 6 years were recruited to examine the content validity. Children who were able to complete a Piagetian seriation task were asked to choose the sequence of 6 photographs. Photo sequences were adjusted according to the study findings. The third study was conducted to examine the convergent, discriminate, and clinical validity for children who are at different levels of pain intensity. In total, 111 children aged 3 to 10 years old who were experiencing surgical pain were recruited. The construct validity of the Asian Oucher was supported. PERSPECTIVE: This study developed an Asian version of Oucher, with photographs of facial expressions of real Taiwanese children who were experiencing pain. The Asian Oucher can assess pain for children as young as 3 years old.

Age Factors↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire among university students.

The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) is a self-rating questionnaire, based on a general biosocial theory, for the clinical description and classification of both normal and abnormal personality variants. It was translated into Japanese and administered with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the 10-item version of the Social Desirability Scale (SDS) to 450 university students on two occasions 2 months apart. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients and kappa-coefficients between TPQ scale scores for the two occasions were significantly high, as were Cronbach's alpha-coefficients of TPQ scales and subcategories at the first wave. Correlations between the TPQ scale score and GHQ and SDS scores were negligible. The TPQ thus appears to have test-retest reliability and content validity among a Japanese student population; it is uninfluenced by psychiatric morbidity or social desirability.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Development and initial validation of a measure of coordination of health care.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and initial validation of the self-administered Client Perceptions of Coordination Questionnaire. DESIGN: The instrument was developed between 1996 and 1997 through iterative item generation; within a framework of six domains of coordination, addressed across four sectors of health care provision. SETTING: 1193 individuals with complex and chronic health care needs as judged by their general practitioners (GPs), who were participants in a 2-year randomized controlled trial of a coordinated care intervention in Australia. Other samples were collected in one general practice (98) and from attendees of a chronic pain management course (29). MAIN MEASURES: Face and content validity, completion rates, transferability, internal consistency, and construct validity of the 32-item instrument. RESULTS: Most items achieved excellent completion and comprehension rates. The instrument was transferable to another chronically unwell population. Cronbach's alpha of the entire instrument was 0.92, and for six individual scales scores ranged from 0.31 to 0.86. The six scales based on principal components analysis were acceptability, received care, GP, nominated provider, client comprehension, and client capacity. The first four scales were satisfactory, but the client scales were inadequate with poor internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity. People with chronic pain syndromes had significantly worse experiences for almost all items, supporting construct validity. CONCLUSION: This instrument is one of the first to attempt to measure coordination of health care. Its strengths include ease of completion, transferability, and promising psychometric properties and construct validity. Problems capturing data about the patient's contribution to coordination highlight a lack of theoretical development in this area. A valid measure of coordination should be useful in needs assessment, program evaluation, and individual provider/practice audit, and would contribute to research into the experience and measurement of patient-focused care.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

The HIV quality audit marker (HIV-QAM): an outcome measure for hospitalized AIDS patients.

The development and validation of the HIV-Quality Audit Marker (HIV-QAM), an instrument designed to measure changes in the status of hospitalized AIDS patients due to nursing care, is reported. The HIV-QAM is designed to capture the nurse data-collector's judgment of the status of the patient based upon observations, interviews, record reviews, and listening to inter-shift report. The final version of the 10 item HIV-QAM includes three scales, Self-care (six items; Cronbach's alpha = 0.89), Ambulation (two items, alpha = 0.88), and Psychological Distress (two items, alpha = 0.84). Content validity was supported by selection of items from pre-existing scales, generation of items based on care plans for HIV/AIDS patients, and review and critique of items by a panel of nurse experts. Construct validity was supported by principal components factor analysis and multi-trait scaling analysis. Convergent and divergent concurrent validity with patient symptoms and intensity of nursing care required was demonstrated. The predictive validity of the HIV-QAM for mortality at 3 and 6 months after hospital treatment for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was also shown.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1996

[Construction and validation of an attitude scale to primary health care].

OBJECTIVES: To elaborate and validate a scale which can be used as an instrument to find the attitudes towards primary health care of doctors at the first care level. DESIGN: Validation study and questionnaire on attitudes. SETTING: The first care level in the Murcia region. Subjects were 155 doctors (27 family and 128 general doctors) in fixed and provisional posts working in the out-clinics and health centres. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: A Likert-type attitudes scale was designed with five reply options. After the pilot-study on the initial scale and the full item-item correlation, the definitive 46-item survey was elaborated. Selection of subjects was through two-stage stratified randomised sampling, by specialty (general/family medicine) and health district. Reliability was high. Contents validity was reached through various consensus methods. To test validity of construction, a factorial analysis of the main components was performed, with 7 factors isolated: overall patient care, team-work, guidance on health problems, doctor's interest in in-work training, professional role, concern for the psychosocial aspects of the illness and inclusion of second level professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The scale designed is a valid instrument, both a reliable way of identifying PHC doctors' attitudes and the attitudes, which could be improved.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1999

Willingness to pay for periodontal therapy: development and testing of an instrument.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to develop and test the feasibility and validity of a willingness to pay (WTP) tool in a dental setting. METHODS: A questionnaire measured individuals' preferences among alternative treatments for periodontal disease and the maximum they would be willing to pay for their treatment of choice in terms of dental insurance premiums. The questionnaire provides detailed information, in probabilistic terms, of the risks and benefits of treatment choices for moderate to advanced adult periodontitis. It was pilot tested on 23 periodontal patients and 18 dental school faculty and staff. RESULTS: The majority (92.6%) felt the questionnaire was an accurate representation of treatments and outcomes, establishing face and content validity. In terms of construct validity, four hypotheses were tested: (1) manipulation of the outcomes of the preferred treatment led to a predictable shift in preferences for 38 subjects (92.7%); (2) although periodontal patients were not more likely to choose periodontal surgery than nonpatients (P = .14), those with a history of surgery were more likely to choose surgery again (P = .06); (3) WTP was positively related to income level (P = .05); and (4) subjects were willing to pay more for coverage for themselves than for others. Periodontal surgery was the preferred treatment for moderate to advanced periodontal disease, and was more strongly preferred than other choices (i.e., a higher WTP) for all income groups. The intraclass correlation coefficient for treatment preferences was 0.95 (P < .001) and the kappa for WTP was 0.78 (P < .001). CONCLUSION: This pilot study supports some of the criteria concerning validity of the WTP questionnaire to measure preferences for alternative periodontal therapies. Further testing on larger samples is required to confirm these results.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Whose quality of life is it anyway? The validity and reliability of the Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease (QoL-AD) scale.

Quality of life (QoL) is becoming an increasingly used outcome measure in both clinical practice and research. There are now more than 1000 scales available to measure QoL, and it is important that they are assessed for reliability and validity. This study aims to assess the reliability and validity of the Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease (QoL-AD) scale, which is dementia specific and brief and uses the patient's own responses. Two separate samples of people with dementia (sample 1, n = 60; sample 2, n = 201) were assessed. Five focus groups were conducted involving both people with dementia and their caregivers; the focus groups showed that people with dementia had higher hopes for their QoL than their caregivers did for them. Questionnaires about the scale were completed by 71 health care professionals working with people with dementia. The scale was found to have good content validity with no additional items required and all items necessary. It also correlated well with the Dementia Quality of Life scale (0.69) and with the Euroqol-5D scale (0.54), indicating good criterion concurrent validity. Construct validity was also good with the principal components analysis showing all 13 items of the QoL-AD loaded on component 1. Interrater reliability was excellent with all Cohen's kappa values >0.70. Internal consistency was excellent with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.82. Some people with severe dementia and a Mini-Mental State Examination score as low as 3 were able to satisfactorily complete the QoL-AD. The QoL-AD has very good psychometric properties and can be completed with people with a wide range of severity of dementia.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Measuring discord in treatment decision-making; progress toward development of a cancer communication and decision-making assessment tool.

Families, as a unit, play an important role in the process of making decisions about care for and with adult cancer patients. Families often step in as the patient's advocate and primary decision-maker as the patient's condition deteriorates. How well caregivers fulfill that role may depend on the level of congruence between the family members and the patient. Disagreements may jeopardize processes of decision-making and treatment choice. To facilitate the clinical assessment process and to provide a tool for research, we are designing an instrument that can validly and reliably assess the level of family discord concerning the treatment of late stage cancer as they consider participation in clinical trials, palliative care and salvage treatment such as chemotherapy designed to decrease tumor burden without hope of cure. Development of the instrument is a four step process to develop and test the instrument: (1) formative interviewing with lung cancer patients and their family caregivers to identify and develop a comprehensive list of domains and items; (2) refinement of the items' wording with a sample of 43 patients and 67 family caregivers; (3) testing the reduced item pool to determine statistical and content validity and reliability with an initial of sample of 42 patients and their primary caregivers; (4) examination of the 30-item scale's properties with 160 lung cancer patients and their primary caregivers.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed1993

Clinical use of BOBCAT: testing reliability and validity of computerized pure-tone audiometry with noise-exposed workers, children and the aged.

An investigation was conducted to determine the feasibility of implementing computerized audiometry in various clinical groups, using the Battery of Basic Computerized Audiometry Tests (BOBCAT). Reliability, validity and speed of execution were assessed as a function of hearing loss in a group of noise-exposed workers. Children and the aged were also included to represent potentially 'more-difficult-to-test' patients due to fluctuating attention, motivation and/or response behavior. Children were aged 7.5-12 years; seniors, 65-80 years. Reliability was assessed by calculating reliability coefficients between air conduction pure-tone thresholds (0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 kHz) obtained under two test modalities namely, computerized audiometry and conventional testing performed by a small panel of trained examiners. Both procedures followed ANSI S3.21 1978 standards. Content validity was measured using measures of central tendency and correlations. Coefficients of reliability remained equally high across frequencies regardless of degree of hearing loss and group. As well, group means and correlations between conventional and computerized audiometry indicated that the two methods measured pure-tone hearing sensitivity with the same degree of accuracy; that is, within +/- 0.5 dB. Finally, speed of execution was found to be slower using BOBCAT, in particular with noise-exposed workers. This finding was interpreted as evidence that trained examiners have used shortcuts when they expect consistent and/or unbiased response behavior.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗

PubMed2001

Development of an endometriosis quality-of-life instrument: The Endometriosis Health Profile-30.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a new disease-specific questionnaire with established measurement properties that addresses the dimensions of health-related quality of life considered important to women with endometriosis. METHODS: The Endometriosis Health Profile-30 was developed in three stages. Stage 1 included open-ended exploratory interviews with 25 women to generate the items on the questionnaire. Stage 2 was an 87-item questionnaire administered in a postal survey to identify the most salient dimensions of health-related quality of life. In stage 3, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were evaluated. RESULTS: The final instrument contained a core questionnaire with 30 items and five scales: pain, control and powerlessness, emotional well-being, social support, and self-image. Six modular parts consisting of 23 questions were also developed and measured the areas of sexual intercourse, work, relationship with children, feelings about the medical profession, treatment, and infertility. All the scales achieved high internal reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficient ranging from 0.83 to 0.93 (core questionnaire) and 0.79 to 0.96 (modules). The intraclass correlation coefficients to evaluate the test-retest reliability were high (range 0.88-0.98, P <.001). Content validity was demonstrated as the questionnaire was developed from interviews of patients rather than existing literature and clinical scales. Construct validity was assessed by correlating the Endometriosis Health Profile-30 scales with the relevant Short Form-36 scales. High correlations for all comparisons were found (-0.41 to -0.73). CONCLUSION: The Endometriosis Health Profile-30 is a reliable, valid, patient-generated instrument to measure the health-related quality of life of women with endometriosis. Its application in various health care settings will provide new and valuable information on the effect of endometriosis on health-related quality of life from the patients' perspective.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Assessing functional disability and health status of women with fibromyalgia: validation of a Hebrew version of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: To validate a translated version of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) to be used by Hebrew speaking populations. METHODS: We administered the FIQ to 100 women with fibromyalgia (FM). The FIQ measures physical functioning, work status, depression, anxiety, sleep, pain, stiffness, fatigue, and well being. All patients were asked about the presence and severity (assessed by visual analog scale) of relevant FM symptoms (pain, fatigue, anxiety, etc.); a count of 18 tender points was conducted by thumb palpation, and tenderness thresholds were assessed by dolorimetry. Test-retest reliability was assessed using Spearman correlations. Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability. To assess content validity a cutoff criterion of > or = 25% impairment responses was set to indicate a valid item. Construct validity of the FIQ was evaluated by correlating the physical functioning score as well as the separate items with measures of symptom severity, count of tender points, and tenderness thresholds. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability was r = 0.96 for physical functioning, and 0.80-0.96 for other items of FIQ. Internal consistency was alpha = 0.93 at Time 1 and 0.86 at Time 2. Seventeen of 19 items of the FIQ met the > or = 25% criterion. Significant moderate to high correlations were obtained between the FIQ items and severity symptoms, point count, and tenderness threshold. CONCLUSION: The FIQ is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring functional disability and health status in Israeli women with FM.

Disability Evaluation↗

PubMed1994

A new approach to defining disease status in ankylosing spondylitis: the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index.

OBJECTIVE: Disease status, in terms of disease activity, disease progression and prognosis is difficult to define in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). No gold standard exists. Therefore, the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), a self-administered instrument, has been developed as a new approach to defining disease activity in patients with AS. METHODS: The index, designed by a multidisciplinary team with input from patients, consists of six 10 cm horizontal visual analog scales to measure severity of fatigue, spinal and peripheral joint pain, localized tenderness and morning stiffness (both qualitative and quantitative). The final BASDAI score has a range of 0 to 10. The index was distributed to a cross section of patients, including inpatients receiving 3 weeks of intensive physiotherapy treatment and hospital outpatients. BASDAI was completed by a total of 154 patients. Validation of the new instrument was achieved through analysis of user friendliness, reliability (consistency), score distribution and sensitivity to change. Comparisons were made with a previous Bath disease activity index (DAI) and the Newcastle Enthesis Index. RESULTS: The BASDAI was found by patients to be quick and simple to complete (mean: 67 s). Test-retest reliability was good (r = 0.93; p < 0.001), as was the distribution of scores across the scale (score range: 0.5-10; mean: 4.31). BASDAI was sensitive to change, reflecting a 16% (mean) improvement in inpatient scores after 3 weeks of treatment. It is superior to the DAI in terms of construct and content validity and to the Enthesis Index in all aspects. CONCLUSION: In summary, BASDAI is user friendly, reliability, sensitive to change and reflects the entire spectrum of disease. It is a comprehensive self-administered instrument for assessing disease activity in AS.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

PubMed2003

Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) - validation and comparison to the WOMAC in total knee replacement.

BACKGROUND: The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) is an extension of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthrtis Index (WOMAC), the most commonly used outcome instrument for assessment of patient-relevant treatment effects in osteoarthritis. KOOS was developed for younger and/or more active patients with knee injury and knee osteoarthritis and has in previous studies on these groups been the more responsive instrument compared to the WOMAC. Some patients eligible for total knee replacement have expectations of more demanding physical functions than required for daily living. This encouraged us to study the use of the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) to assess the outcome of total knee replacement. METHODS: We studied the test-retest reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Swedish version LK 1.0 of the KOOS when used to prospectively evaluate the outcome of 105 patients (mean age 71.3, 66 women) after total knee replacement. The follow-up rates at 6 and 12 months were 92% and 86%, respectively. RESULTS: The intraclass correlation coefficients were over 0.75 for all subscales indicating sufficient test-retest reliability. Bland-Altman plots confirmed this finding. Over 90% of the patients regarded improvement in the subscales Pain, Symptoms, Activities of Daily Living, and knee-related Quality of Life to be extremely or very important when deciding to have their knee operated on indicating good content validity. The correlations found in comparison to the SF-36 indicated the KOOS measured expected constructs. The most responsive subscale was knee-related Quality of Life. The effect sizes of the five KOOS subscales at 12 months ranged from 1.08 to 3.54 and for the WOMAC from 1.65 to 2.56. CONCLUSION: The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) is a valid, reliable, and responsive outcome measure in total joint replacement. In comparison to the WOMAC, the KOOS improved validity and may be at least as responsive as the WOMAC.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Quality of life in aphasia: Greek adaptation of the stroke and aphasia quality of life scale - 39 item (SAQOL-39).

AIM: Health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures are becoming increasingly popular in evaluating health care interventions and services. The stroke and aphasia quality of life scale-39 item (SAQOL-39) is an English questionnaire that measures HRQL in people with aphasia. There is currently no measure to assess the HRQL of Greek-speaking people with aphasia. This study began the cross-cultural adaptation of the SAQOL-39 into Greek, by translating and linguistically validating the instrument. METHODS: The Mapi approach to linguistic validation was followed. The SAQOL-39 was forward translated into Greek and back-translated into English. The pilot version was produced by comparing the forward and backward translations. The resulting instrument was then reviewed by an expert professional and pilot tested with a sample of 10 people with aphasia. RESULTS: Sixty-seven percent of back-translated items matched those in the original instrument. Only 20% of the items in the consensus version needed amendments for the pilot version. The pilot testing showed that the SAQOL-39 had good accessibility (no missing data), acceptability (maximum endorsement frequencies, MEF=or>70%; 9 out of 10 participants had no difficulty) and content validity (8 participants had nothing to add to the questionnaire). CONCLUSIONS: By employing the Mapi approach to linguistic validation, a close matching between the original and the Greek version of the SAQOL-39 was ensured. The Greek SAQOL-39 is accessible and acceptable to people with aphasia. Further research is needed on the psychometric properties of the Greek SAQOL-39 and on its appropriateness as a clinical outcome measure.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Development and psychometric validation of the veterinary service satisfaction questionnaire (VSSQ).

In the absence of a widely available, psychometrically tested questionnaire for measuring satisfaction with UK veterinary services, the Veterinary Service Satisfaction Questionnaire (VSSQ) was developed. Items in the first draft were derived from a literature review, guidelines from professional bodies and interviews with pet owners and veterinarians. The questionnaire includes 72 satisfaction items, each with a five-option response format. A total of 183 domestic pet owners from three small animal practices (60% response rate) completed it by mail. Pilot testing and postal completion rates indicate the acceptability and relevance of the VSSQ. Principal components analyses of respondent ratings suggested that the VSSQ can be scored as five scales: general services, staff communication, vet communication, death of pet and vet technical abilities. Six further items are scored separately. Descriptive statistics are provided for individual items and scales. Subgroup differences are explored according to owners' demographic variables. The VSSQ demonstrates preliminary face and content validity, excellent internal consistency reliability in each of the five scales (Cronbach's alpha 0.93-0.97) and good construct validity: those who had recommended the practice to others had significantly higher scores. Scoring guidelines are provided for the VSSQ, which is now ready for use.

Adult↗