Abstract

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To analyze the Miniquestionário de Qualidade de Vida em Hipertensão Arterial (MINICHAL – Mini-questionnaire of Quality of Life in Hypertension) using the Item Response Theory.METHODS This is an analytical study conducted with 712 persons with hypertension treated in thirteen primary health care units of Fortaleza, State of Ceará, Brazil, in 2015. The steps of the analysis by the Item Response Theory were: evaluation of dimensionality, estimation of parameters of items, and construction of scale. The study of dimensionality was carried out on the polychoric correlation matrix and confirmatory factor analysis. To estimate the item parameters, we used the Gradual Response Model of Samejima. The analyses were conducted using the free software R with the aid of psych and mirt.RESULTS The analysis has allowed the visualization of item parameters and their individual contributions in the measurement of the latent trait, generating more information and allowing the construction of a scale with an interpretative model that demonstrates the evolution of the worsening of the quality of life in five levels. Regarding the item parameters, the items related to the somatic state have had a good performance, as they have presented better power to discriminate individuals with worse quality of life. The items related to mental state have been those which contributed with less psychometric data in the MINICHAL.CONCLUSIONS We conclude that the instrument is suitable for the identification of the worsening of the quality of life in hypertension. The analysis of the MINICHAL using the Item Response Theory has allowed us to identify new sides of this instrument that have not yet been addressed in previous studies.

Highlights

  • The measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is relevant for the investigation and evaluation of the health of individuals[5]

  • The analysis has allowed the visualization of item parameters and their individual contributions in the measurement of the latent trait, generating more information and allowing the construction of a scale with an interpretative model that demonstrates the evolution of the worsening of the quality of life in five levels

  • The items related to the somatic state have had a good performance, as they have presented better power to discriminate individuals with worse quality of life

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Summary

Introduction

The measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is relevant for the investigation and evaluation of the health of individuals[5]. Because of its multifactorial characteristic, there are several HRQoL questionnaires, each bringing different models of quality of life (QOL) and differentiated implementation situations, always associated with health conditions or disease[3,11]. The evaluation of the QOL is of interest in patients with hypertension, since this condition has a significant epidemiological impact worldwide and it acts on the overall well-being of patients[1,4,25]. Such evaluation has become usual, among other ways, with the use of the Miniquestionário de Qualidade de Vida em Hipertensão Arterial (MINICHAL – Mini-questionnaire of Quality of Life in Hypertension)

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