Calibration of the Spanish PROMIS Smoking Item Banks

The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Smoking Initiative has developed item banks for assessing six smoking behaviors and biopsychosocial correlates of smoking among adult cigarette smokers. The goal of this study is to evaluate the performance of the Spanish version of the PROMIS smoking item banks as compared to the original banks developed in English.

The six PROMIS banks for daily smokers were translated into Spanish and administered to a sample of Spanish-speaking adult daily smokers in the United States (N = 302). We first evaluated the unidimensionality of each bank using confirmatory factor analysis. We then conducted a two-group item response theory calibration, including an item response theory-based Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis by language of administration (Spanish vs. English). Finally, we generated full bank and short form scores for the translated banks and evaluated their psychometric performance.

Unidimensionality of the Spanish smoking item banks was supported by confirmatory factor analysis results. Out of a total of 109 items that were evaluated for language DIF, seven items in three of the six banks were identified as having levels of DIF that exceeded an established criterion. The psychometric performance of the Spanish daily smoker banks is largely comparable to that of the English versions.

The Spanish PROMIS smoking item banks are highly similar, but not entirely equivalent, to the original English versions. The parameters from these two-group calibrations can be used to generate comparable bank scores across the two language versions.

In this study, we developed a Spanish version of the PROMIS smoking toolkit, which was originally designed and developed for English speakers. With the growing Spanish-speaking population, it is important to make the toolkit more accessible by translating the items and calibrating the Spanish version to be comparable with English-language scores. This study provided the translated item banks and short forms, comparable unbiased scores for Spanish speakers and evaluations of the psychometric properties of the new Spanish toolkit.