title: Questionnaire of chronic illness care in primary care-psychometric properties and test-retest reliability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Chronic Care Model (CCM) is an evidence-based approach to improving the structure of care for chronically ill patients with multimorbidity. The Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (ACIC), an instrument commonly used in international research, includes all aspects of the CCM, but cannot be easily extended to the German context. A new instrument called the "Questionnaire of Chronic Illness Care in Primary Care" (QCPC) was developed for use in Germany for this reason. Here, we present the results of the psychometric properties and test-retest reliability of QCPC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 109 family doctors from different German states participated in the validation study. Participating physicians completed the QCPC, which includes items concerning the CCM and practice structure, at baseline (T0) and 3 weeks later (T1). Internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and Pearson's r, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The QCPC contains five elements of the CCM (decision support, delivery system design, self-management support, clinical information systems, and community linkages). All subscales demonstrated moderate internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability over a three-week interval.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The QCPC is an appropriate instrument to assess the structure of chronic illness care. Unlike the ACIC, the QCPC can be used by health care providers without CCM training. The QCPC can detect the actual state of care as well as areas for improvement of care according to the CCM.
authors: Department of General Practice and Health Services Research, University of Heidelberg, Voßstraße 2, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. jost.steinhaeuser@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors: Jost
authors: J
authors: Steinhaeuser
authors: Antje
authors: A
authors: Miksch
authors: Dominik
authors: D
authors: Ose
authors: Katharina
authors: K
authors: Glassen
authors: Iris
authors: I
authors: Natanzon
authors: Joachim
authors: J
authors: Szecsenyi
authors: Katja
authors: K
authors: Goetz
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D005858:Germany; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires