A cognitive interviewing study exploring respiratory questionnaires
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Life of Breath: a cognitive interviewing study exploring respiratory questionnaires
IRAS ID
190645
Contact name
A Malpass
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
15-YH-0447, Yorkshire and the Humber-Leeds East
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, months, days
Research summary
Background: Self-administered questionnaires, such as the CAT Scale, are regularly used in clinical practice to measure the health status of patients living with COPD and are a useful adjunct to spirometry tests. The associations between spirometric values and disease specific quality of life questionnaires have been shown to be weak and it is generally recognised that the CAT scores contribute valid additional information about the daily functioning and well being of patients with COPD.Cognitive interviewing is a research technique that can identify what psychologists call interpretative measurement error (IME). IME is distinct from traditional components of measurement error, such as not reading the question as worded or recording answers inaccurately. Cognitive interviewing can identify when patients are not interpreting the questionnaire items in the same way or the way intended by the questionnaire designers/administering clinician.
Aims: to use cognitive interviewing techniques to explore patterns in answer mapping and comprehension of the CAT and a recently developed scale for breathlessness, the MDP.
Design: a qualitative study using cognitive interviewing techniques and card sorting.
Methods: We will recruit 32 participants living with COPD from a clinical setting and community based setting (Breath Easy). A purposiveful sampling strategy will be adopted to represent different stages in the clinical encounter, as well as gender, age, ethnicity. Participants will be interviewed once, lasting one hour. Cognitive interviews will be digitally recorded. Analysis will use digital audio files (as opposed to verbatim transcripts) as it retains important features needed for analyses
Results: Findings will explore differences in the way people living with COPD comprehend and map their answers to the options available on the two questionnaires. Findings will test the hypothesis that clinical understanding of symptoms of COPD and breathlessness diverge from lay understanding.
Conclusions:Findings will show whether respiratory questionnaires are capturing what is important to patients about living with COPD.REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0478
Date of REC Opinion
10 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion