Developing the HAND-Q: phase 2 field test
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing the HAND-Q: phase 2 field test
IRAS ID
248242
Contact name
Jeremy N Rodrigues
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Flinders University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The overall aim of the HAND-Q project is to develop a patient reported outcome (PRO) instrument for patients with hand conditions.
The aim of Phase 2 is to field test the HAND-Q in a large population of patients to enable scale refinement using Rasch Measurement Theory (RMT) analysis. The current HAND-Q questionnaire is long as it is important at this stage of PRO development to be comprehensive. The purpose of field-testing is to shorten the scale to only include the questions that are most relevant and meaningful to the clinical care of hand surgery patients using RMT.
RMT is a mathematical model that shows what should be expected in responses to items (questions of a PRO) if accurate interval scale measurement of an underlying variable is to be achieved. Interval measurement allows for meaningful measurement over time and is suitable for individual scoring. This is in contrast with scales developed using classical test theory, which do not have these properties. The majority of currently available PROs in the field of hand surgery do not utilise RMT and therefore offer suboptimal measurement properties. Originally designed for use in the field of education testing the Rasch model is used in many disciplines and increasingly in health sciences research. It is useful for both the development of measurement questionnaires and the evaluation of existing instruments.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0744
Date of REC Opinion
3 Jan 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion