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PubMed2000

The impact of different response alternatives on responders' reporting of health-related behaviour in a postal survey.

Previous experimental research in other topic areas has shown that the choice of response alternatives can influence respondents' reporting of the frequency of vaguely defined events and that the set of response alternatives is treated as information in the interpretation of the question. The aim of this study was to examine whether such affects would occur in the context of respondents reporting of health-related events using high and medium frequency closed format response categories, which might be used interchangeably by researchers. The study consisted of a postal survey of n = 518 patients aged > or = 18 years randomly selected from the patient list of a diabetes centre and who were equally and randomly allocated to one of three conditions (Condition A: high frequency response alternatives/horizontal orientation; condition B: medium frequency response alternatives/horizontal orientations; condition C: high frequency response alternatives/vertical orientation). Testing for the effect of response alternatives for the combined responses of five vaguely defined questions between conditions A and B was chi 2 = 5.5, p = 0.019, for the difference in proportions, indicating that overall, those respondents presented with response alternatives discriminating at medium frequency, reported significantly fewer target events than those presented with high frequency response alternatives. Testing for the effect of orientation of the combined question responses between conditions A and C, differences in proportions between conditions, did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). Findings from this and previous studies indicate that response alternatives provide information on the interpretation of vaguely defined questionnaire items and that their choice should not be left to intuition alone when designing questionnaire items.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Classification of natural and supernatural causes of mental distress. Development of a Mental Distress Explanatory Model Questionnaire.

This paper describes the background and development of a Mental Distress Explanatory Model Questionnaire designed to explore how people from different cultures explain mental distress. A 45-item questionnaire was developed with items derived from the Murdock et al. categories, with additional items covering western notions of physiological causation and stress. The questionnaire was administered to 261 people, mostly college students. Multi-dimensional scaling analysis shows four clusters of mental distress: a) stress; b) western physiological; c) nonwestern physiological; and d) supernatural. These clusters form two dimensions: western physiological vs. supernatural and impersonal vs. personalistic explanations. Natural and stress items are separated from supernatural and nonwestern physiological items along the first dimension. Brain damage, physical illness, and genetic defects have the greatest separation along the first dimension. Being hot, the body being out of balance, and wind currents passing through the body most strongly represent the non-western physiological category. The questionnaire has the potential to be used for community health screening and for monitoring patient care, as well as with students in the health sciences and with health practitioners.

Asia, Southeastern↗
PubMed1981

Personality correlates of sphenoidal EEG-foci in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Patients with unilateral temporal lateral or temporal mediobasal epileptic focus as ascertained by sphenoidal electrode EEG recordings were evaluated using the questionnaire designed by Bear & Fedio (1977). The seventeen traits defined by the items in this questionnaire were also assessed by close observers in an equivalent questionnaire. Patients with medio-basal temporal lobe focus were found generally to exhibit "epileptic" personality traits to a greater extent than patients with lateral focus, and the results indicated that they also, more than patients with lateral focus, were characterized by a schizoid paranoid outlook. The patients with left temporal lobe focus were found to be emotionally labile compared to patients with right temporal lobe focus. Patients with lateral right-sided temporal focus had obviously the most benign psychological prognosis. The main discrepancies between the results of Bear & Fedio (1977) and the present study are briefly discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Colour of bile vomiting in intestinal obstruction in the newborn: questionnaire study.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the colour that different groups of observers thought represented bile in a newborn's vomit. DESIGN: Questionnaires displaying eight colours (pale yellow to dark green). SETTING: General practices in Glasgow, postnatal ward and level III special care baby unit in a university teaching hospital, and mother and toddler groups in Glasgow. PARTICIPANTS: 47 general practitioners, 29 nurses on the baby unit, 48 midwives, and 41 mothers of babies and infants. OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants indicated which colour would represent bile in a baby's vomit. More than one colour could be chosen. Respondents were also asked to indicate one colour that was the best match for bile. RESULTS: When any colour could be chosen, 12 (25%) general practitioners, 1 (3%) nurse on the baby unit, 5 (10%) postnatal midwives, and 23 (56%) parents did not consider green an appropriate colour for a baby's vomit containing bile. Twenty three (49%) general practitioners, 7 (24%) neonatal nurses, 15 (31%) postnatal midwives, and 29 (71%) parents thought yellow was the best colour match. CONCLUSIONS: There is little agreement about the colour of bile vomit in a newborn. It is more pertinent to ask parents about the colour of vomit rather than whether it contained bile. Many general practitioners and parents do not recognise green as an appropriate colour for bile in the vomit of newborns, which may delay surgical referral. Though yellow vomit does not exclude intestinal obstruction, the presence of green vomiting in a baby is a surgical emergency and requires expeditious referral.

Bile↗
PubMed2005

Musical difficulties are rare: a study of "tone deafness" among university students.

This study was concerned with self-reported "tone deafness" and its possible relationship to congenital amusia. Nearly 17% of over 2,000 first-year psychology students at Queen's University self-reported tone deafness. Two hundred students were recruited from this pool of students, comprising 100 who reported tone deafness and 100 who reported that they were not tone-deaf (NTD). The study contained two parts. In part 1, participants completed the six tests of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) developed by Peretz and collaborators. In part 2, participants completed an extensive questionnaire designed to elicit details about musical experiences, abilities, training, and interests. Twenty-eight questionnaire items allowing a quantitative response were subjected to factor analysis. Four orthogonal components emerged from the analysis. The components reflected self-report of (1) vocal production, (2) music instruction, (3) listening attitudes, and (4) childhood memories of musical environment. Results for each of the MBEA tests and composite scores for all tests were regressed on participants' factor scores. The best and significant predictors of the MBEA scores were factor I and factor II, followed by factor III. Factor scores accounted for a higher percentage of the variance in MBEA composite test results (27%) than the self-report of tone deafness alone (7%). The musical difficulties revealed by the MBEA test results for some participants warrant further attention and study. However, an encouraging conclusion from the MBEA results is that many individuals who consider themselves "tone-deaf" may not, in fact, have perceptual difficulties, and these individuals should be supported in any of their efforts to proceed with music enjoyment and instruction.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use and abuse of glucose reflectance meters.

All diabetic patients who had been using home glucose monitoring devices during the last 2 yr in the area served by the specialist Diabetes Unit in Christchurch, New Zealand were invited to complete a questionnaire designed to provide information on glycemic control, treatment regimen, and patterns of glucose recording. Questionnaires were completed by 111 of 152 patients, of whom 99% were using insulin. The period of use of reflectance meters was between 1 and 18 mo. Forty-three percent used their meters in a manner considered unsatisfactory and 15% failed to write down results. Those patients recording for the longest periods showed a significant trend to more inefficient use of devices. Forty-four percent still relied on their medical supervisor for treatment changes, but most attended infrequently (mode 12 wk; range 1-52 wk). Most frequently, treatment changes were to insulin dose and only one-third had adopted more "physiologic" regimens incorporating rapid-acting insulin. Blood glucose control was not significantly changed from that found in a group of diabetic subjects during the first weeks of monitoring. These results suggest that (1) many patients do not use home glucose monitoring devices in a manner likely to allow rational modification to therapy, (2) neither patients nor family physicians have reacted appropriately to high recorded values, and (3) chronic use of home monitoring has not resulted in good glycemic control for many patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Convergent validity of the Larocque Obesity Questionnaire and self-reported behavior during obesity treatment.

A validation study of the Larocque Obesity Questionnaire designed for use in obesity treatment was performed. Unlike other measures of obesity, this questionnaire includes scales measuring general emotional state as well as eating behavior. Subscales measured uncontrolled eating, physical stress responses, depression, and perfectionism. Subjects were 458 women and 79 men in treatment for obesity by general practitioners. The subscales showed acceptable internal consistency and related in predictable ways to measures of eating behavior, depression, self-criticism, stress, physical complaints and weight-control motivation. Subjects in the heaviest weight category (Body Mass Index > or = 40) showed higher scores on Stress Response and Depression subscales. There were no significant sex differences, after controlling for weight. All four subscales showed significant improvement after 5 wk., which indicates their sensitivity to changes during treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Prevalence of asthma and related symptoms in school-age children in São Paulo, Brazil--International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC).

We studied the prevalence of asthma and related symptoms using a standard written questionnaire designed for the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC). The written questionnaire (questions 1-8 related to asthma) was applied to 3005 children aged 6-7 years and to 3008 children aged 13-14 years. The parents of the 6-7-year-old children answered the questionnaire, whereas the 13-14-year-old children answered the questionnaire themselves. Response rates were 72% in the 6-7-year-old group and 94% in the 13-14-year-old group. There was a slight predominance of females in the population studied (male:female ratio 0.94). In the group of the 6-7-year-old children, the prevalence of diagnosed asthma was 7.3% for boys and 4.9% for girls, and in the group of the 13-14-year-old children, the prevalence was 9.8% and 10.2% for boys and girls, respectively. Asthma severity was similar for both age groups, and wheezing following exercise was more frequent among the adolescents. In keeping with studies in other parts of the world, comparison between reported symptoms and diagnosed asthma revealed significantly lower frequency of diagnosed asthma, suggesting that in the population we have studied, asthma is underdiagnosed. Using a global cut-off score to define asthma, we found a significantly higher prevalence of asthma among 6-7-year-old boys, as compared to girls (23.8% vs. 20.4%), and no significant differences among adolescent boys and girls (22.5% and 21.9%, respectively).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Signs of subclinical eating disorders in teenage girls.

OBJECTIVE: To study possible indicators for subclinical eating disorders among teenage girls. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study based on two anonymous self-report questionnaires. SETTING: Girls aged 15 to 19 years in secondary high school in Bergen, Norway. SUBJECTS: 100 girls, mean age 16.6 years, were included. One girl fulfilled DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa, and was therefore excluded from analysis. Ten girls fulfilled criteria for subclinical eating disorders. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and a 48-item questionnaire designed for the study were used. Attitudes towards own body size/weight, food habits, and somatic symptoms were studied. RESULTS: Girls with subclinical eating disorders experienced their own body as fatter and were more unhappy with their weight than girls without eating problems. They more often skipped breakfast or lunch, reported more dyspeptic problems and regurgitation, and had a larger weight fluctuation than girls without eating problems. CONCLUSION: Questions about main meals may serve as neutral opening questions for the general practitioner when case finding in eating disorders. Obviously unrealistic feelings about body size/weight indicate the need to enquire more closely about symptoms of eating disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Use of quality circles among first year medical students and impact on student satisfaction.

Quality circles in the classroom setting are composed of students who meet regularly to identify, analyse and solve problems related to a course, and implement solutions. We recently instituted quality circles (QCs) among preclinical medical students and evaluated their impact on quality of learning and student satisfaction. Included in the study were all 135 first-year medical students of Trakya University School of Medicine in the 2000-2001 academic year. Six students were selected randomly out of 26 volunteers as circle members. Circle participants met once a week for 14 45-minute sessions to discuss educational issues, propose solutions and prepare a report for submission to the dean. A questionnaire was administered to all first-year students and the replies provided the problem pool from which the QC chose the problem to be addressed. A total of 22 problems concerned education and 28 were identified in the fields of accommodation, social activities and other issues. To evaluate the change in the perceived quality of learning, circle members prepared a questionnaire designed to compare satisfaction at the beginning and end of the study period. This questionnaire was composed of 26 items and evaluated various aspects of education. There was a significant increase in student satisfaction after the one-year study period (p = 0.001). In addition to enhancing quality of learning, quality circles improved student satisfaction as well. More studies should be conducted to test the impact of QCs on education in different settings and different classes. Our results show that the use of quality circles in first-year medical students improves quality of learning and student satisfaction.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗
PubMed1995

[The Dutch version of the McGill pain questionnaire: a reliable pain questionnaire].

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the McGill pain questionnaire, translated into Dutch (MPQ-DLV), is a reliable instrument to measure pain. DESIGN: Questionnaire study. SETTING: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leiden, the Netherlands. METHOD: The MPQ-DLV was administered three times to 92 patients who had physiotherapy: in group I (n = 62) twice before and four hours after physiotherapy treatment, in group II (n = 30) before, directly after and four hours after treatment. The questionnaire consisted of questions to determine (a) the quality and intensity, (b) the localisation and evolution of the pain, (c) the effects of the pain on quality of life and further (d) visual analog pain intensity scales. Subsets of questions were combined into nine indices. For all indices on all three occasions Cronbach's alpha coefficients were determined. Moreover, test-retest correlation coefficients were determined between the scores of the first and second, the first and third, and the second and third occasions. RESULTS: The test-retest correlations of the nine indices and the visual analog pain intensity scales ranged from 0.62 to 0.93 (median: 0.84). Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the indices varied between 0.61 and 0.85 (median: 0.72). CONCLUSION: The MPQ-DLV is a reliable instrument for measuring pain.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Increasing response rates to postal questionnaires: a randomised trial of variations in design.

OBJECTIVES: Low response rates to postal questionnaires can threaten the validity of studies by reducing the effective sample size and introducing bias. The identification of methods with which to optimise response rates could, therefore, improve the quality of studies. In an attempt to identify such methods, we undertook a randomised trial of two simple variations in questionnaire design. METHODS: Using a 2 x 2 factorial design, we conducted a randomised trial to test two variations in questionnaire design; the questionnaires were printed on either single-sided or double-sided paper and had either a single- or multiple-booklet layout. Using equal random allocation, 3836 women were randomised to receive one of these questionnaires as part of a study investigating risk factors for osteoporotic fractures. RESULTS: One thousand eight hundred and seventy questionnaires were returned, giving an overall response rate of 48.7%. There were no significant differences in the overall response to each of the four questionnaire designs. When the number of responders who completed at least 50% of each of the three sections was identified, it was found that single-booklet questionnaires had a better response than the multiple-booklet questionnaires and that single-sided questionnaires had a better response than double-sided questionnaires. However, these results were not significant at the 5% level. There were no significant differences in the response to questions on the odd (left-hand side) pages for the single- compared with the double-sided questionnaires. CONCLUSION: As the most cost-effective use of resources, we would advocate the use of double- rather than single-sided questionnaires, and use of a single- rather than multiple-booklet design.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

The Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire: a validation.

This is a validation of a self-rating questionnaire designed to detect disorders of the mother-infant relationship. 125 subjects filled in the questionnaire, and were also interviewed using the 5(th) Edition of the Birmingham Interview for Maternal Mental Health. On the basis of these interviews and the case records, we made consensus diagnoses of various forms and degrees of mother infant relationship disorder, according to criteria published in this paper. We calculated specificity, sensitivity and positive predictive value of the four scale scores generated by the questionnaire. Scale 1 (a general factor) had a sensitivity of 0.82 for all mother-infant relationship disorders. Scale 2 (rejection and pathological anger) had a sensitivity of 0.88 for rejection of the infant, but only 0.67 for severe anger. The performance of scale 3 (infant-focused anxiety) was unsatisfactory. Scale 4 (incipient abuse) selected only a few mothers, but was of some value in identifying those at high risk of child abuse. Revision of the thresholds can improve sensitivity, especially of scale 2, where a cut-off point of 12 = normal, 13 = high better identifies mothers with threatened rejection. These new cut-off points would need validation in another sample.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Professional dissonance: colliding values and job tasks in mental health practice.

This study investigated the relationship between individual and job characteristics of mental health social workers and professional dissonance--an experienced conflict between values and job tasks. A 33-item questionnaire, designed specifically for the study's purposes was utilized. A total of 320 usable study questionnaires were returned (44.5% response rate). The primary study hypothesis, that professional dissonance is related to individual and job characteristics, was partially supported by the data. While job characteristics appeared to have little influence on dissonance, several individual characteristics of the respondents were statistically related to level of dissonance. Specifically, men with the most years of experience and with lower reported attachment to self-determination reported higher levels of dissonance. Study participants affirmed the importance of life-long supervision in managing dissonance in practice.

Attitude↗
PubMed2004

Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported use of dietary supplements.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)-used in a cohort of 48,000 men to determine dietary supplement use. DESIGN: Questionnaire data regarding use of dietary supplements were compared with 14 24-h recall interviews spread over a year. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: A random sample of 248 middle-aged and elderly Swedish men was included in the analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Use of any supplement in at least one interview was reported by 51% (in three or more interviews by 38%). Sensitivity and specificity of the FFQ regarding any supplement use was 78 and 93%, respectively. Sensitivity for multivitamins, vitamins C and E was 69, 67 and 78%, respectively. The sensitivity increased to 93% and the specificity decreased to 88% when a user was defined as a person reporting use in at least three interviews. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary supplement use might be measured by a self-administered questionnaire relatively well especially when supplements are used more regularly.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The new Swedish Post-Concussion Symptoms questionnaire: a measure of symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury and its concurrent validity and inter-rater reliability.

OBJECTIVE: To study the concurrent validity and the inter-rater reliability of the Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire. DESIGN: The approach was to study the concurrent validity of the Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire when used as an interview questionnaire compared with a self-report questionnaire administered by the patients. The inter-rater reliability was also studied when 2 different raters administered the Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire interview. PATIENTS: Thirty-five patients with mild traumatic brain injury were consecutively contacted by telephone and asked whether they would be willing to participate in a follow-up intervention. METHODS: The Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire was completed by the patients, who answered "Yes" or "No" to the standardized questions. The patients were then interviewed to check the certain "Yes" or "No" answers, 0-10 days after having completed the first Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire. The raters filled in their ratings independently. RESULTS: The concurrent validity of answers in the questionnaire compared with those in the interview ranged from 82% to 100% agreement. The inter-rater reliability results ranged from 93% to 100% agreement between the raters. CONCLUSION: The Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire with answers of "Yes" or "No" is a valid instrument. High reliability was found between the raters.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Use of a questionnaire to improve occupational and environmental history taking in primary care physicians.

New patient charts were reviewed before and after the introduction of a self-administered questionnaire, designed to elicit occupational and environmental (OE) information from patients. The Occupational Health Risk Assessment questionnaire (OHRA) was expected to prompt primary care physicians to make further inquiries into OE health issues. Chart reviews determined the amount and type of information detailed in the primary care physicians' notes. Twenty-three percent of completed OHRAs indicated a job-related health problem. Despite a high prevalence of self-reported work-related symptoms and exposures, the mean number of notations regarding OE exposures was less than one item per patient chart. A comparison of mean OE notations per chart before versus after introduction of the OHRA indicated a decline in notations after introduction of the OHRA (1.03 vs 0.72, P = 0.02). We detail the type of OE issues that patients presented to a primary care practice and the resulting information contained in primary care providers' notes. Suggestions are made to improve a self-administered patient questionnaire to better diagnose, prioritize, and formulate treatment plans related to OE issues.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Assessment of a one-page questionnaire on long-term recreational physical activity.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of several chronic diseases. Although there is considerable published research on methods to assess current or recent recreational physical activity, there are few short, self-administered questionnaires designed to assess long-term physical activity. METHODS: We developed a one-page questionnaire to capture data on usual recreational physical activity during the preceding 10 years. This questionnaire was used in a cohort study of adults age 50 to 75 years residing in western Washington state. To examine the measurement characteristics of this questionnaire, we compared metabolic equivalent task (MET)-hours derived from this short questionnaire to MET-hours estimated from a detailed comparison interview in a subsample (n = 217) and to current body mass index (BMI; weight in kilograms/height in square meters) in the full sample of 57,811 persons. RESULTS: The age- and sex-adjusted partial Pearson correlation coefficient for total recreational activity between the 2 instruments was 0.68. In the full cohort, BMI was inversely correlated with physical activity as assessed by the one-page questionnaire (r = -0.22). CONCLUSIONS: This short questionnaire measures long-term physical activity at a level of precision appropriate to the examination of associations in studies of physical activity and disease.

Age Factors↗