title: Measuring depression after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Depression item bank and linkage with PHQ-9.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a calibrated spinal cord injury-quality of life (SCI-QOL) item bank, computer adaptive test (CAT), and short form to assess depressive symptoms experienced by individuals with SCI, transform scores to the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) metric, and create a crosswalk to the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used grounded-theory based qualitative item development methods, large-scale item calibration field testing, confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory (IRT) analyses, and statistical linking techniques to transform scores to a PROMIS metric and to provide a crosswalk with the PHQ-9.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five SCI Model System centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adults with traumatic SCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spinal Cord Injury--Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Depression Item Bank
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals with SCI were involved in all phases of SCI-QOL development. A sample of 716 individuals with traumatic SCI completed 35 items assessing depression, 18 of which were PROMIS items. After removing 7 non-PROMIS items, factor analyses confirmed a unidimensional pool of items. We used a graded response IRT model to estimate slopes and thresholds for the 28 retained items. The SCI-QOL Depression measure correlated 0.76 with the PHQ-9.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SCI-QOL Depression item bank provides a reliable and sensitive measure of depressive symptoms with scores reported in terms of general population norms. We provide a crosswalk to the PHQ-9 to facilitate comparisons between measures. The item bank may be administered as a CAT or as a short form and is suitable for research and clinical applications.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Tulsky
authors.forename: Pamela A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Kisala
authors.forename: Claire Z
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Kalpakjian
authors.forename: Charles H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Bombardier
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Pohlig
authors.forename: Allen W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Heinemann
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carle
authors.forename: Seung W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002138:Calibration; D003863:Depression / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards
keywords: Depression; Health-Related Quality of Life; Outcomes Assessment (Healthcare); Patient Reported Outcomes; Spinal Cord Injuries