Evaluation of the Midwifery Student Evaluation of Practice (MidSTEP) tool using Rasch analysis.

Problem: Quantitative feedback from students about their clinical learning experiences is used to inform program quality, but the extent to which tools are reliable, valid and refined receives less attention.

Aim: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Midwifery Student Evaluation of Practice (MidSTEP) tool using Rasch analysis.

Methods: The Midwifery Student Evaluation of Practice tool was completed by Bachelor of Midwifery students (n = 901) attending seven universities in Australia and New Zealand.

Measuring physical and mental health during pregnancy and postpartum in an Australian childbearing population - validation of the PROMIS Global Short Form.

Background: Health related quality of life is a critical concept during the perinatal period but remains under-researched. The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement have included the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) Global Short Form (GSF) in their core outcome set for pregnancy and childbirth to measure health related quality of life. The PROMIS GSF has not been fully evaluated as a valid and reliable instrument in this population.

Criterion Validity of the Child's Challenging Behavior Scale, Version 2 (CCBS-2).

Objective: The Child's Challenging Behavior Scale, Version 2 (CCBS-2), measures maternal rating of a child's challenging behaviors that compromise maternal mental health. The CCBS-2, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were compared in a sample of typically developing young Australian children.

Method: Criterion validity was investigated by correlating the CCBS-2 with "gold standard" measures (CBCL and SDQ subscales).

Child's Challenging Behaviour Scale, Version 2 (CCBS-2): Psychometric Evaluation With Young Children.

Objective: In this article, we evaluate psychometric properties of the Child's Challenging Behaviour Scale, Version 2 (CCBS-2) with mothers of young, typically developing children.

Method: A cross-sectional mail survey with Australian mothers (N = 337) included the CCBS-2, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status scale.

Results: Internal consistency was good, and no gender differences in CCBS-2 scores were significant.

Prevalence of burnout, depression, anxiety and stress in Australian midwives: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: The health and wellbeing of midwives are important considerations for workforce retention and quality care. The occurrence and relationships among mental health conditions such as burnout and depression have received little attention. We investigated the prevalence of burnout, depression, anxiety and stress in Australian midwives.

Evaluation of Internal Construct Validity and Unidimensionality of the Brachial Assessment Tool, A Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Brachial Plexus Injury.

Objective: To evaluate the internal construct validity and dimensionality of a new patient-reported outcome measure for people with traumatic brachial plexus injury (BPI) based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health definition of activity.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Outpatient clinics.

Midwifery empowerment: National surveys of midwives from Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

Background: the predicted midwifery workforce shortages in several countries have serious implications for the care of women during pregnancy, birth and post partum. There are a number of factors known to contribute to midwifery shortages and work attrition. However, midwives assessment of their own professional identity and role (sense of empowerment) are perhaps among the most important.

Refinement and revalidation of the demoralization scale: The DS-II-internal validity.

Background: The Demoralization Scale (DS) was initially validated in 2004 to enable the measurement of demoralization in patients with advanced cancer. Subsequent shortcomings indicated the need for psychometric strengthening. Here, the authors report on the refinement and revalidation of the DS to form the DS-II, specifically reporting the scale's internal validity.

Rasch analysis of the Personal Wellbeing Index.

Purpose: The Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) is used internationally to measure subjective well-being. While numerous studies have reported on the psychometric properties of the PWI using classic test theory, the current paper provides additional psychometric evaluation using the Rasch measurement model.

Method: The responses to the PWI items of 593 healthy adults living in Australia or Canada were analysed using Rasch analysis.

Making Sense of Variations in Prevalence Estimates of Depression in Cancer: A Co-Calibration of Commonly Used Depression Scales Using Rasch Analysis.

Background: The use of different depression self-report scales warrants co-calibration studies to establish relationships between scores from 2 or more scales. The goal of this study was to examine variations in measurement across 5 commonly used scales to measure depression among patients with cancer: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression subscale (HADS-D), Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-Depression subscale (DASS-D).

Methods: The depression scales were completed by 162 patients with cancer.

Adaptation and psychometric testing of the Practice Environment Scale for use with midwives.

Background: The Practice Environment Scale (PES) has been used extensively to measure the quality of the practice environment of nurses working in a variety of work settings, and has been linked with quality of care, nurse wellbeing, job dissatisfaction and burnout. Although developed for nurses, many of the aspects addressed by the PES are also relevant to the midwifery profession, and may provide a tool to better understand midwives' decision to leave the profession.

Aim: To adapt the PES for use with midwives and to assess its psychometric properties.

Caregiver distress in dementia in rural Victoria.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the levels of stress, anxiety and depression of informal carers caring for someone with dementia in a rural setting.

Methods: Carers of people with dementia were recruited to complete a survey that incorporated the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) to measure carer emotional well-being. The survey also included the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), which assesses the presence and severity of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) of care recipients and their effects on the carer.

Deriving a preference-based utility measure for cancer patients from the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer's Quality of Life Questionnaire C30: a confirmatory versus exploratory approach.

Background: Multi attribute utility instruments (MAUIs) are preference-based measures that comprise a health state classification system (HSCS) and a scoring algorithm that assigns a utility value to each health state in the HSCS. When developing a MAUI from a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaire, first a HSCS must be derived. This typically involves selecting a subset of domains and items because HRQOL questionnaires typically have too many items to be amendable to the valuation task required to develop the scoring algorithm for a MAUI.

Evaluation of the internal construct validity of the Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool (PC-PART) using Rasch analysis.

Background: The Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool (PC-PART) is a 43-item, clinician-administered assessment, designed to identify patients' unmet needs (participation restrictions) in activities of daily living (ADL) required for community life. This information is important for identifying problems that need addressing to enable, for example, discharge from inpatient settings to community living. The objective of this study was to evaluate internal construct validity of the PC-PART using Rasch methods.

Measuring vocal function in professional music theater singers: construct validation of the Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily (EASE).

Overview: Working music theater singers (MTS) typically have a heavy vocal load and little is known about their perception of vocal function. The Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily (EASE) was used to assess professional MTS' perceptions of current singing voice status and to compare scores across demographic and performance characteristics and to evaluate the construct validity of the EASE and its subscales (VF = Vocal Fatigue, PRI = Pathologic-Risk Indicators).

Methods: Professional MTS (n = 284) completed an online survey including the EASE and two additional Vocal Concern (VC) items.

Further validation of the Health Promoting Activities Scale with mothers of typically developing children.

Background/aim: The Health Promoting Activities Scale (HPAS) measures the frequency that mothers participate in self-selected leisure activities that promote health and wellbeing. The scale was originally validated on mothers of school-aged children with disabilities, and the current article extends this research using a comparative sample of mothers of typically developing school-aged children.

Method: Australian mothers (N = 263) completed a questionnaire containing the HPAS, a measure of depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21) and questions concerning their weight, height, sleep quality and demographics.

Using Rasch analysis to examine the distress thermometer's cut-off scores among a mixed group of patients with cancer.

Purpose: The distress thermometer (DT) is commonly used in cancer care to improve detection of distress. The DT's recommended cut-off score of 4 or 5 has typically been established using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The present analysis complements these studies by critically examining the use of the HADS to identify the DT's cut-off score and corroborating the DT's cut-off scores using item response theory (Rasch analysis).

Measuring the positive and negative aspects of the caring role in community versus aged care setting.

Aim: To investigate the positive and negative aspects of family caregiving in two settings: community and aged care facility.

Methods: Postal questionnaires included the short Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and a scale developed for this study: Positive Aspects of Caring Scale (PACS).

Results: Analysis of responses of 90 carers showed high burden levels, with no difference between care settings.

Rasch analysis of The Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function.

Aim: This study investigated the internal construct validity and dimensionality of the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function (Melbourne Assessment), a widely-used measure of quality of upper limb movement, valid for children aged 2 years 6 months to 15 years with cerebral palsy.

Method: Rasch analysis was used to assess of Melbourne Assessment raw scores for 163 children (94 males, 69 females; mean age 8y, SD 3y 5mo). Analysis was undertaken on the full scale comprising 37 scores and on groups of scores separated into four distinct movement subscales: range of movement, accuracy, dexterity, and fluency.

Investigation of the self-reported health and health-related behaviours of Victorian mothers of school-aged children.

Lifestyle may influence many health-related issues currently facing Australian women. The extent to which women with school-aged children attend to their own health is unknown and the associations between health behaviours and health status requires investigation. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of health behaviours (alcohol consumption, health-promoting activities) and their impact on self-reported health (weight, sleep quality, mental health) among mothers of school-aged children in Victoria.

Assessment of the internal construct validity of the revised High-Level Mobility Assessment Tool for traumatic orthopaedic injuries.

Objective: To determine whether the revised High-Level Mobility Assessment Tool (HiMAT) was valid for measuring mobility for people with multi-trauma orthopaedic lower limb injuries.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Subjects: Participants with lower limb multi-trauma orthopaedic injuries.

Guillain-Barré syndrome: prevalence and long-term factors impacting bladder function in an Australian community cohort.

Background And Purpose: Urinary dysfunction is associated with significant morbidity in persons with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). The aim of this study was to describe prevalence and long-term impact of bladder dysfunction on daily activities and quality of life (QoL) in persons in chronic phase of GBS and to examine the relationships between commonly used continence measures in this cohort.

Methods: Prospective cohort (n=66) following GBS treatment (1996-2009) was recruited from a tertiary hospital and assessed using standardised measures for bladder dysfunction: American Urological Association (AUA) Symptom Index, Incontinence Impact Questionnaire, Urogenital Distress Inventory.

The role of women's attitudinal profiles in satisfaction with the quality of their antenatal and intrapartum care.

Objective: To compare perceptions of antenatal and intrapartum care in women categorized into three profiles based on attitudes and fear.

Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study using self-report questionnaires. Profiles were constructed from responses to the Birth Attitudes Profile Scale and the Fear of Birth Scale at pregnancy weeks 18 to 20.

Relationships between sleep disruptions, health and care responsibilities among mothers of school-aged children with disabilities.

Aim: Sleep problems are more common among children with disabilities. Mothers are likely to provide night-time care. Mothers of children with disabilities are known to experience high levels of stress and mental health issues compared with other mothers.

Development and preliminary validation of the EASE: a tool to measure perceived singing voice function.

Objectives: Most voice self-rating tools are disease-specific measures and are not suitable for use with healthy voice users. There is a need for a tool that is sensitive to the subtleties of a singer's voice and to perceived physical changes in the singing voice mechanism as a function of load. The aim of this study was to devise and validate a scale to assess singer's perceptions of the current status of their singing voice.