Validation of a health screening questionnaire for primary care using Rasch models.

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Research
• Health Services Research
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Rising health inequalities necessitate targeted interventions.
• Preventive health checks (PHC) have questionable general efficacy.
• Need for valid screening tools to identify individuals benefiting from preventive care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the psychometric properties of the SQ-33 screening questionnaire.
• To evaluate the SQ-33's utility in identifying vulnerable primary care patients for preventive consultations.

Main Methods:

• Rasch item response modeling used to analyze survey data from 2056 primary care patients (aged 20-44).
• Psychometric properties, responsiveness, and predictive validity of the SQ-33 were assessed.
• A modified 23-item version (HSQ-23) was developed and evaluated.

Main Results:

• Twenty-three items across four subscales demonstrated sound psychometric properties (GLLRM fit) at baseline and follow-up.
• The modified HSQ-23 exhibited superior responsiveness and predictive validity compared to the original SQ-33.

Conclusions:

• The Health Screening Questionnaire (HSQ-23) possesses adequate psychometric properties and responsiveness.
• HSQ-23 can serve as an outcome measure in preventive intervention studies.
• Further research is needed to confirm HSQ-23's ability to identify patients who benefit from PHC.