Distribution-based and anchor-based approaches provided different interpretability estimates for the Hydrocephalus...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health Outcomes Research
• Health Status Measurement
• Clinical Interpretability

Background:

• The Hydrocephalus Outcome Questionnaire (HOQ) is a health status measure requiring established interpretability.
• Understanding the minimal important difference (MID) and utility scores enhances HOQ clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare three methods for establishing interpretability of the HOQ.
• To determine the MID for the HOQ using global health ratings and an effect size approach.
• To convert HOQ scores into health utility scores.

Main Methods:

• Mothers and surgeons of children with hydrocephalus rated child health, alongside completing the HOQ and Health Utilities Index-2 (HUI-2).
• MID was calculated using global health ratings and an effect size approach.
• HOQ scores were converted to HUI-2 utility scores via linear transformation.

Main Results:

• MID estimates for the HOQ were 0.12 (mothers) and 0.10 (surgeons) using global ratings, but 0.03 using effect size.
• HOQ scores were successfully translated to HUI-2 utility scores.
• The mean utility score for the patient sample was 0.77.

Conclusions:

• Two methods for MID determination yielded different quantitative results, highlighting the need for careful selection.
• Successful conversion of HOQ scores to utility scores provides an additional layer of interpretability for this health status measure.