@article {121, title = {Data pooling and analysis to build a preliminary item bank: an example using bowel function in prostate cancer}, journal = {Evaluation and the Health Professions}, volume = {28}, number = {2}, year = {2005}, note = {0163-2787 (Print)Journal Article}, pages = {142-59}, abstract = {Assessing bowel function (BF) in prostate cancer can help determine therapeutic trade-offs. We determined the components of BF commonly assessed in prostate cancer studies as an initial step in creating an item bank for clinical and research application. We analyzed six archived data sets representing 4,246 men with prostate cancer. Thirty-one items from validated instruments were available for analysis. Items were classified into domains (diarrhea, rectal urgency, pain, bleeding, bother/distress, and other) then subjected to conventional psychometric and item response theory (IRT) analyses. Items fit the IRT model if the ratio between observed and expected item variance was between 0.60 and 1.40. Four of 31 items had inadequate fit in at least one analysis. Poorly fitting items included bleeding (2), rectal urgency (1), and bother/distress (1). A fifth item assessing hemorrhoids was poorly correlated with other items. Our analyses supported four related components of BF: diarrhea, rectal urgency, pain, and bother/distress.}, keywords = {*Quality of Life, *Questionnaires, Adult, Aged, Data Collection/methods, Humans, Intestine, Large/*physiopathology, Male, Middle Aged, Prostatic Neoplasms/*physiopathology, Psychometrics, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}t, Statistics, Nonparametric}, author = {Eton, D. T. and Lai, J. S. and Cella, D. and Reeve, B. B. and Talcott, J. A. and Clark, J. A. and McPherson, C. P. and Litwin, M. S. and Moinpour, C. M.} } @article {147, title = {Computerized adaptive measurement of depression: A simulation study}, journal = {BMC Psychiatry}, volume = {4}, number = {1}, year = {2004}, pages = {13-23}, abstract = {Background: Efficient, accurate instruments for measuring depression are increasingly importantin clinical practice. We developed a computerized adaptive version of the Beck DepressionInventory (BDI). We examined its efficiency and its usefulness in identifying Major DepressiveEpisodes (MDE) and in measuring depression severity.Methods: Subjects were 744 participants in research studies in which each subject completed boththe BDI and the SCID. In addition, 285 patients completed the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.Results: The adaptive BDI had an AUC as an indicator of a SCID diagnosis of MDE of 88\%,equivalent to the full BDI. The adaptive BDI asked fewer questions than the full BDI (5.6 versus 21items). The adaptive latent depression score correlated r = .92 with the BDI total score and thelatent depression score correlated more highly with the Hamilton (r = .74) than the BDI total scoredid (r = .70).Conclusions: Adaptive testing for depression may provide greatly increased efficiency withoutloss of accuracy in identifying MDE or in measuring depression severity.}, keywords = {*Computer Simulation, Adult, Algorithms, Area Under Curve, Comparative Study, Depressive Disorder/*diagnosis/epidemiology/psychology, Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted/*methods/statistics \& numerical data, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Internet, Male, Mass Screening/methods, Patient Selection, Personality Inventory/*statistics \& numerical data, Pilot Projects, Prevalence, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/*statistics \& numerical data, Psychometrics, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}t, Research Support, U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}t, P.H.S., Severity of Illness Index, Software}, author = {Gardner, W. and Shear, K. and Kelleher, K. J. and Pajer, K. A. and Mammen, O. and Buysse, D. and Frank, E.} } @article {238, title = {Item banking to improve, shorten and computerized self-reported fatigue: an illustration of steps to create a core item bank from the FACIT-Fatigue Scale}, journal = {Quality of Life Research}, volume = {12}, number = {5}, year = {2003}, note = {0962-9343Journal Article}, month = {Aug}, pages = {485-501}, abstract = {Fatigue is a common symptom among cancer patients and the general population. Due to its subjective nature, fatigue has been difficult to effectively and efficiently assess. Modern computerized adaptive testing (CAT) can enable precise assessment of fatigue using a small number of items from a fatigue item bank. CAT enables brief assessment by selecting questions from an item bank that provide the maximum amount of information given a person{\textquoteright}s previous responses. This article illustrates steps to prepare such an item bank, using 13 items from the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Subscale (FACIT-F) as the basis. Samples included 1022 cancer patients and 1010 people from the general population. An Item Response Theory (IRT)-based rating scale model, a polytomous extension of the Rasch dichotomous model was utilized. Nine items demonstrating acceptable psychometric properties were selected and positioned on the fatigue continuum. The fatigue levels measured by these nine items along with their response categories covered 66.8\% of the general population and 82.6\% of the cancer patients. Although the operational CAT algorithms to handle polytomously scored items are still in progress, we illustrated how CAT may work by using nine core items to measure level of fatigue. Using this illustration, a fatigue measure comparable to its full-length 13-item scale administration was obtained using four items. The resulting item bank can serve as a core to which will be added a psychometrically sound and operational item bank covering the entire fatigue continuum.}, keywords = {*Health Status Indicators, *Questionnaires, Adult, Fatigue/*diagnosis/etiology, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms/complications, Psychometrics, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}t, Research Support, U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}t, P.H.S., Sickness Impact Profile}, author = {Lai, J-S. and Crane, P. K. and Cella, D. and Chang, C-H. and Bode, R. K. and Heinemann, A. W.} } @article {368, title = {CAT administration of language placement examinations}, journal = {Journal of Applied Measurement}, volume = {1}, number = {3}, year = {2000}, note = {1529-7713Journal Article}, pages = {292-302}, abstract = {This article describes the development of a computerized adaptive test for Cegep de Jonquiere, a community college located in Quebec, Canada. Computerized language proficiency testing allows the simultaneous presentation of sound stimuli as the question is being presented to the test-taker. With a properly calibrated bank of items, the language proficiency test can be offered in an adaptive framework. By adapting the test to the test-taker{\textquoteright}s level of ability, an assessment can be made with significantly fewer items. We also describe our initial attempt to detect instances in which "cheating low" is occurring. In the "cheating low" situation, test-takers deliberately answer questions incorrectly, questions that they are fully capable of answering correctly had they been taking the test honestly.}, keywords = {*Language, *Software, Aptitude Tests/*statistics \& numerical data, Educational Measurement/*statistics \& numerical data, Humans, Psychometrics, Reproducibility of Results, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}t}, author = {Stahl, J. and Bergstrom, B. and Gershon, R. C.} }