Does Mode of Survey Administration Matter? Using Measurement Invariance to Validate the Mail and Telephone Versions of the Bereaved Family Survey

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• 作者：Joshua M. Thorpe ; PhD^a ; ^b ; ^c ; Dawn Smith ; MS^a ; ^d ; Natalie Kuzla ; MA^a ; ^d ; Laura Scott ; MSEd^a ; ^d ; Mary Ersek ; PhD ; RN^a ; ^d ; ^{Mary.ersek@va.gov" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author}
• 关键词：End-of-life care ; quality improvement ; psychometric evaluation ; measurement invariance ; palliative care ; Veterans health care
• 刊名：Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：March 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：51
• 期：3
• 页码：546-556
• 全文大小：505 K

文摘

The Veterans Health Administration evaluates outcomes of end-of-life (EOL) care using the Bereaved Family Survey (BFS). Originally, the BFS was administered as a telephone survey but was transitioned to a mail survey beginning October 2012. The transition necessitated an evaluation of the tool's validity using this new mode of administration.

Objectives

The objective of this study was to validate the mail version and to test for measurement invariance (MI) across the two administration modes.

Methods

Telephone and mail versions of the BFS were validated separately between October 2009 and September 2013. MI was evaluated using a series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). Construct validity was evaluated by calculating Cronbach alpha coefficients and examining differences between BFS factor scores for groups with and without quality care indicators (e.g., receipt of a palliative care consult).

Results

Our sample consisted of 35,682 decedent BFS scores (27,109 telephone surveys; 8573 mail surveys). BFS item scores were slightly skewed, with a predominance of higher scores for both the telephone and mail version. The average missing rate for each BFS item was minimal, just 2% for each version. The CFA models demonstrated dimensional, configural, metric, and factor mean invariance across administration modes. BFS factor scores were consistently higher when a patient received EOL quality care indicators regardless of mode of administration.

Conclusion

These findings demonstrate the MI and robust psychometric properties for the BFS across administration modes.