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Comparative Study
. 2010 Feb;19(1):125-36.
doi: 10.1007/s11136-009-9560-5. Epub 2009 Nov 26.

Efficiency of static and computer adaptive short forms compared to full-length measures of depressive symptoms

Seung W Choi  1 , Steven P Reise, Paul A Pilkonis, Ron D Hays, David Cella
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Efficiency of static and computer adaptive short forms compared to full-length measures of depressive symptoms

Seung W Choi et al. Qual Life Res. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: Short-form patient-reported outcome measures are popular because they minimize patient burden. We assessed the efficiency of static short forms and computer adaptive testing (CAT) using data from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) project.

Methods: We evaluated the 28-item PROMIS depressive symptoms bank. We used post hoc simulations based on the PROMIS calibration sample to compare several short-form selection strategies and the PROMIS CAT to the total item bank score.

Results: Compared with full-bank scores, all short forms and CAT produced highly correlated scores, but CAT outperformed each static short form in almost all criteria. However, short-form selection strategies performed only marginally worse than CAT. The performance gap observed in static forms was reduced by using a two-stage branching test format.

Conclusions: Using several polytomous items in a calibrated unidimensional bank to measure depressive symptoms yielded a CAT that provided marginally superior efficiency compared to static short forms. The efficiency of a two-stage semi-adaptive testing strategy was so close to CAT that it warrants further consideration and study.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scale (Bank) information function (the outmost curve) and maximum attainable information curves (the inner curves)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Correlation with the full-bank theta estimates as a function of test length (1 through 28 items)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean posterior standard deviation (PSD) as a function of test length (4 through 12 items)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Item response functions for the locator question, “I felt depressed”
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Root mean squared error (RMSE) of theta estimates at selected theta points. Note: the RMSEs were generated based on 1,000 simulees at each theta location
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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