%0 Journal Article %J Journal of Applied Measurement %D 2006 %T Expansion of a physical function item bank and development of an abbreviated form for clinical research %A Bode, R. K. %A Lai, J-S. %A Dineen, K. %A Heinemann, A. W. %A Shevrin, D. %A Von Roenn, J. %A Cella, D. %K clinical research %K computerized adaptive testing %K performance levels %K physical function item bank %K Psychometrics %K test reliability %K Test Validity %X We expanded an existing 33-item physical function (PF) item bank with a sufficient number of items to enable computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Ten items were written to expand the bank and the new item pool was administered to 295 people with cancer. For this analysis of the new pool, seven poorly performing items were identified for further examination. This resulted in a bank with items that define an essentially unidimensional PF construct, cover a wide range of that construct, reliably measure the PF of persons with cancer, and distinguish differences in self-reported functional performance levels. We also developed a 5-item (static) assessment form ("BriefPF") that can be used in clinical research to express scores on the same metric as the overall bank. The BriefPF was compared to the PF-10 from the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36. Both short forms significantly differentiated persons across functional performance levels. While the entire bank was more precise across the PF continuum than either short form, there were differences in the area of the continuum in which each short form was more precise: the BriefPF was more precise than the PF-10 at the lower functional levels and the PF-10 was more precise than the BriefPF at the higher levels. Future research on this bank will include the development of a CAT version, the PF-CAT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) %B Journal of Applied Measurement %I Richard M Smith: US %V 7 %P 1-15 %@ 1529-7713 (Print) %G eng %M 2006-01262-001 %0 Journal Article %J Medical Care %D 2006 %T Item banks and their potential applications to health status assessment in diverse populations %A Hahn, E. A. %A Cella, D. %A Bode, R. K. %A Gershon, R. C. %A Lai, J. S. %X In the context of an ethnically diverse, aging society, attention is increasingly turning to health-related quality of life measurement to evaluate healthcare and treatment options for chronic diseases. When evaluating and treating symptoms and concerns such as fatigue, pain, or physical function, reliable and accurate assessment is a priority. Modern psychometric methods have enabled us to move from long, static tests that provide inefficient and often inaccurate assessment of individual patients, to computerized adaptive tests (CATs) that can precisely measure individuals on health domains of interest. These modern methods, collectively referred to as item response theory (IRT), can produce calibrated "item banks" from larger pools of questions. From these banks, CATs can be conducted on individuals to produce their scores on selected domains. Item banks allow for comparison of patients across different question sets because the patient's score is expressed on a common scale. Other advantages of using item banks include flexibility in terms of the degree of precision desired; interval measurement properties under most circumstances; realistic capability for accurate individual assessment over time (using CAT); and measurement equivalence across different patient populations. This work summarizes the process used in the creation and evaluation of item banks and reviews their potential contributions and limitations regarding outcome assessment and patient care, particularly when they are applied across people of different cultural backgrounds. %B Medical Care %V 44 %P S189-S197 %8 Nov %G eng %M 17060827 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Pain and Symptom Management %D 2005 %T An item response theory-based pain item bank can enhance measurement precision %A Lai, J-S. %A Dineen, K. %A Reeve, B. B. %A Von Roenn, J. %A Shervin, D. %A McGuire, M. %A Bode, R. K. %A Paice, J. %A Cella, D. %K computerized adaptive testing %X Cancer-related pain is often under-recognized and undertreated. This is partly due to the lack of appropriate assessments, which need to be comprehensive and precise yet easily integrated into clinics. Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) can enable precise-yet-brief assessments by only selecting the most informative items from a calibrated item bank. The purpose of this study was to create such a bank. The sample included 400 cancer patients who were asked to complete 61 pain-related items. Data were analyzed using factor analysis and the Rasch model. The final bank consisted of 43 items which satisfied the measurement requirement of factor analysis and the Rasch model, demonstrated high internal consistency and reasonable item-total correlations, and discriminated patients with differing degrees of pain. We conclude that this bank demonstrates good psychometric properties, is sensitive to pain reported by patients, and can be used as the foundation for a CAT pain-testing platform for use in clinical practice. %B Journal of Pain and Symptom Management %V 30 %P 278-88 %G eng %M 16183012 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Applied Measurement %D 2003 %T Developing an initial physical function item bank from existing sources %A Bode, R. K. %A Cella, D. %A Lai, J. S. %A Heinemann, A. W. %K *Databases %K *Sickness Impact Profile %K Adaptation, Psychological %K Data Collection %K Humans %K Neoplasms/*physiopathology/psychology/therapy %K Psychometrics %K Quality of Life/*psychology %K Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. %K United States %X The objective of this article is to illustrate incremental item banking using health-related quality of life data collected from two samples of patients receiving cancer treatment. The kinds of decisions one faces in establishing an item bank for computerized adaptive testing are also illustrated. Pre-calibration procedures include: identifying common items across databases; creating a new database with data from each pool; reverse-scoring "negative" items; identifying rating scales used in items; identifying pivot points in each rating scale; pivot anchoring items at comparable rating scale categories; and identifying items in each instrument that measure the construct of interest. A series of calibrations were conducted in which a small proportion of new items were added to the common core and misfitting items were identified and deleted until an initial item bank has been developed. %B Journal of Applied Measurement %V 4 %P 124-36 %G eng %M 12748405 %0 Journal Article %J Quality of Life Research %D 2003 %T 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 %A Lai, J-S. %A Crane, P. K. %A Cella, D. %A Chang, C-H. %A Bode, R. K. %A Heinemann, A. W. %K *Health Status Indicators %K *Questionnaires %K Adult %K Fatigue/*diagnosis/etiology %K Female %K Humans %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Neoplasms/complications %K Psychometrics %K Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't %K Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. %K Sickness Impact Profile %X 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'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. %B Quality of Life Research %V 12 %P 485-501 %8 Aug %G eng %M 13677494