URL:

http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/11000/11400/11433/session_1.htm

Description:

This website, published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, is a compilation of nine instrument analyses used to measure not only burden of injury on a patient, but quality of life as well.

Types of Information or Instruments:

The website contains instruments used to measure a patient’s burden of injury and subsequent quality of life following an injury. All but the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) are targeted and have been used to survey adults. The scales, which range in length from 10 to 136 items, gauge each patient’s physical, psychological and social functioning after an injury or medical procedure. A number of the studies also examine the use of the instruments described in terms of traumatic injuries and the short and long-term outcome of the patient.

Quantity of Instruments:

NHTSA lists 9 instruments with a detailed description following each.

Quality of Instrument Descriptions:

Each instrument’s descriptions vary in subject matter. For the most part, each instrument is described in terms of clinical and research use thus far and a general structure is given.

Quality of Psychometric Information:

The psychometric information for each scale varies. Generally, each instrument’s normative data was mentioned, along with the measure’s internal consistency, and scoring instructions and criteria. A few measures however, went into further depth, including the summary of the Sickness Impact Profile, where the author not only provides website visitors with external validity, but general reliability and clinical applicability as well.

Scale accessibility:

The website does not provide any information on where to locate the scales described. At the end of each instrument analysis, the authors do list a reference section that lists the original source of the instrument.

Site provides actual scale items:

The majority of the sites present actual scale items, many in a table format.

User-friendly navigation:

The website is full of information, but the lack of an instrument listing at the start of the webpage makes navigating tedious and leaves the reader curious as to what the 34 pages of the website describes.

Other types of Information:

In addition to a description of the instrument many of the authors included a development history of the instrument along with the strengths and advantages of the measure mentioned. The type of extra information differs between each instrument. The Sickness Impact Profile’s author offers a comparison of the SIP to other measures in its class, while the Child Health Questionnaire examines the issues in constructing a survey for the first two decades of life.

Hints:

None.

Category:

Disease-specific>Injury Burden and QoL