A proof of principle for using adaptive testing in Routine Outcome Monitoring: the efficiency of the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire -Anhedonic Depression CAT.
BACKGROUND
In Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) there is a high demand for short assessments. Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) is a promising method for efficient assessment. In this article, the efficiency of a CAT version of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire, - Anhedonic Depression scale (MASQ-AD) for use in ROM was scrutinized in a simulation study.


METHODS
The responses of a large sample of patients (N = 3,597) obtained through ROM were used. The psychometric evaluation showed that the items met the requirements for CAT. In the simulations, CATs with several measurement precision requirements were run on the item responses as if they had been collected adaptively.


RESULTS
CATs employing only a small number of items gave results which, both in terms of depression measurement and criterion validity, were only marginally different from the results of a full MASQ-AD assessment.


CONCLUSIONS
It was concluded that CAT improved the efficiency of the MASQ-AD questionnaire very much. The strengths and limitations of the application of CAT in ROM are discussed.
Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. n.smits@vu.nl
Niels
N
Smits
Frans G
FG
Zitman
Pim
P
Cuijpers
Margien E
ME
den Hollander-Gijsman
Ingrid V E
IV
Carlier
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D009426:Netherlands; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*