Evaluation of newly developed item banks for child-reported outcomes of participation following spinal cord injury.
METHODS
Multi-center, prospective calibration study.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the psychometric properties of item banks designed for a computer adaptive test of participation.


METHODS
Three pediatric specialty care hospitals in North America.


METHODS
Newly developed item banks containing questions about participation were administered to 381 children, 8-21 years. Unidimensionality was evaluated using categorical confirmatory factor analysis and residual correlations. Pearson's correlations were calculated between simulated CATs and the full-item banks.


RESULTS
CFI=0.905, TLI=0.951 and RMSEA=0.089 for the self-participation item bank; CFI=0.924, TLI=0.963 and RMSEA=0.083 friend-participation item bank. The 15- and 5- item simulated CATs and full-item banks were highly correlated.


CONCLUSIONS
The newly developed self and friend-participation item banks met the required assumptions for CAT. Simulated CATs yielded scores comparable to full-item banks. The results of the study support the use of the item banks for a CAT of participation in children following spinal cord injury.
Department of Clinical Research, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. mmulcahey@shrinenet.org
M J
MJ
Mulcahey
C L
CL
Calhoun
F
F
Tian
P
P
Ni
L C
LC
Vogel
S M
SM
Haley
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D002138:Calibration; D002648:Child; D003201:Computers; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult