Development of a New Psychometric Scale (PYTHEIA) to Assess the Satisfaction of Users with Any Assistive Technology

Abstract

This paper presents the early findings of a new psychometric scale called PYTHEIA. It was developed in Greek according to the most well known guidelines recommendations in order to assess the satisfaction of users with any assistive technology device (e.g. robotic, rehabilitation device, etc.). Field test studies were conducted with 147 subjects (inpatients and outpatients of a rehabilitation hospital) who were administered the original questionnaire. The scale is applicable in patients with different diseases, ages, and disabilities using various assistive devices. According to the inclusion criteria selected, all of them scored above 17 in the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.992), Pearson’s correlation (r = 0.984) and Cronbach’s α (α = 0.793) indicated sufficient reliability measures. Test-retest outcome showed great stability. The paired samples t-test between initial assessment and reassessment indicated no statistically significant differences (p value = 0.059). Various types of validity were also investigated. According to the results, PYTHEIA is a stable, valid and reliable instrument. Thus, it can be used to measure the satisfaction of patients with any assistive device. PYTHEIA uniqueness is that it can be used to assess not only the general satisfaction of the users with any assistive device, but also to evaluate independently any individual characteristic and functionality that the device may have. To this end, it can be used for evaluating also new and experimental developments (e.g. robotic assistive devices, etc.) in lab environment and can help researchers assess their products in terms of efficiency, comfort, quality, performance, ergonomics and usefulness as perceived by the end users.