Physical body experiences questionnaire simplified for active aging (PBE-QAG): Validation with Rasch measurement theory

Purpose To validate the Physical body experiences questionnaire simplified for active aging (PBE-QAG) with Rasch measurement theory. PBE-QAG measures body awareness during physical activity and includes dimensions of body-mind relationship, body acceptance, and awareness of physical skills and limits. Methods Adults without pain (n=269), with pain (n=61), with mental health conditions (n=200), and with stroke (n=36) were recruited at the Minnesota State Fair, Highland Fest, and in the Brain Body Mind Lab (University of Minnesota) and completed demographic and clinical questionnaires as well as the PBE-QAG. The PBE-QAG has 12 items, with scores ranging between 0 (totally true) to 4 (totally false). A low total score on the PBE-QAG reflects better body awareness. We evaluated item and person fit, targeting, unidimensionality, person separation reliability (PSR), local item dependence (LID), and differential item functioning (DIF) for demographic and clinical characteristics. We compared with Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA the person mean location in four groups: Adults with or without mental health conditions; and whether those groups did body awareness training. Results Unidimensionality and item fit were obtained after deleting 2 and rescoring 5 items. Seven participants did not fit the model (1.23%). There was minimal floor (5.72%), no ceiling effect (0.00%), and no LID. No DIF was greater than 0.50 logits for any of the variables. The Wright-corrected PSR was 0.96. The person mean location was -1.71+/-1.21 logits. Adults with mental health conditions who did not practice body awareness had a higher person mean location [Median (IQR)=0.83(0.89) logits, p<0.0001] versus the other three groups, reflecting lower body awareness. Conclusions PBE-QAG demonstrated good item and person fit, but the targeting is off. Therefore, the current version of PBE-QAG is not recommended for use in the general population. We encourage further validation of PBE-QAG in adults with mental health conditions who do not practice body awareness.

A Questionnaire for Assessing User Satisfaction With Mobile Health Apps: Development Using Rasch Measurement Theory

Background Mobile health (mHealth) apps offer great opportunities to deliver large-scale, cost-efficient digital solutions for implementing lifestyle changes. Furthermore, many mHealth apps act as medical devices. Yet, there is little research on how to assess user satisfaction with an mHealth solution. Objective This study presents the development of the mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire and evaluates its measurement properties. Methods Respondents who took part in the Health Integrator Study and were randomized to use the Health Integrator smartphone app for lifestyle changes (n=112), with and without additional telephone coaching, rated their satisfaction with the app using the new 14-item mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire. The ratings were given on a 5-point Likert scale and measurement properties were evaluated using Rasch measurement theory (RMT). Results Optimal scoring was reached when response options 2, 3, and 4 were collapsed, giving three response categories. After omitting two items that did not fit into the scale, fit residuals were within, or close to, the recommended range of ±2.5. There was no differential item functioning between intervention group, age group, or sex. The Person Separation Index was 0.79, indicating that the scale’s ability to discriminate correctly between person leniency was acceptable for group comparisons but not for individual evaluations. The scale did not meet the criterion of unidimensionality; 16.1% (18/112) of the respondents were outside the desired range of −1.96 to 1.96. In addition, several items showed local dependency and three underlying dimensions emerged: negative experiences, positive experiences, and lifestyle consequences of using the mHealth solution. Conclusions In times where mHealth apps and digital solutions are given more attention, the mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire provides a new possibility to measure user satisfaction to ensure usability and improve development of new apps. Our study is one of only a few cases where RMT has been used to evaluate the usability of such an instrument. There is, though, a need for further development of the mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire, including the addition of more items and consideration of further response options. The mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire should also be evaluated in a larger sample and with other mHealth apps and in other contexts. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03579342; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03579342.

Evaluating a University Entrepreneurial Programme in a Developing Country: Applying Rasch Measurement Theory to Attitude to Enterprise

This paper examines the impact of an educational programme developed in Senegal with university students and designed to encourage entrepreneurship by influencing personal attitudes toward enterprise. The instrument to measure the entrepreneurial potential of young people has been applied in different socio-demographic contexts in some previous empirical research. Improvements in students’ perception of attitudinal factors associated with leadership, creativity, achievement and intuition can be inferred from the results of the longitudinal analysis conducted. Moreover, a positive and significant relationship between students’ perceived behavioural control and their attitudes toward starting a business at the end of the entrepreneurial programme is confirmed. Rasch Measurement Theory is applied to analyse the validity of the measurements and findings suggest that the scale used seems to be a reliable and valid tool for measuring entrepreneurial attitude in a university setting. Results confirm that entrepreneurship programmes have the potential to improve the entrepreneurial attitudes of students in a developing country.