TUESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- A Web-based multi-domain computerized adaptive test is a valid, reliable and efficient method of measuring health-related quality of life in patients with back pain, according to a report in the May 20 issue of Spine.

Jacek A. Kopec, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues developed a five-domain (daily activities, walking, handling objects, pain or discomfort, and feelings) Web-based computerized adaptive test to assess health care-related quality of life (CAT-5D-QOL) in 215 patients with back pain, of whom 84 completed a retest. The CAT-5D-QOL questionnaire was compared with standard generic and back-specific questionnaires.

The researchers found that reliability of the CAT-5D-QOL ranged from 0.83 to 0.92 for the various domains, compared with 0.92 for the Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI), the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and the Physical Component Summary of the Short Form-36 Health Survey (PCS-36). The pain domain of the CAT-5D-QOL had a ceiling effect of 0.5 percent compared with 2 percent for MODI and 5 percent for RMDQ. The CAT-5D-QOL correlated well with other measures of health care-related quality of life, with an average relative discrimination index of 0.87 for pain, 0.67 for daily activities, and 0.62 for walking, compared with 0.89 for MODI, 0.80 for RMDQ and 0.59 for PCS-36.

"The CAT-5D-QOL is feasible, reliable, valid and efficient in patients with back pain," Kopec and colleagues conclude. "This methodology can be recommended for use in back pain research and should improve outcome assessment, facilitate comparisons across studies and reduce patient burden."

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)