[Biometric properties of QUALIFY: a tool for assessing quality indicators]

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Psychiatry
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Accurate evaluation of healthcare using quality indicators (QIs) is crucial for quality-oriented systems.
• The QUALIFY tool is a standard for assessing healthcare QIs but lacks empirical validation in psychiatry.
• This study addresses the need to evaluate QUALIFY's psychometric properties in mental health care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically evaluate the internal consistency and structural properties of the QUALIFY tool in the context of mental health care quality indicators.
• To determine the reliability and validity of QUALIFY for assessing psychiatric healthcare quality.

Main Methods:

• A literature-based, post-hoc analytical design was employed.
• 289 mental health care QIs were assessed using nineteen ordinal QUALIFY criteria.
• Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, and structural properties were tested via explorative principal component analysis.

Main Results:

• The QUALIFY tool demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.75).
• Three specific criteria were found to be inconsistent with the full scale.
• Excluding these three criteria resulted in good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.81).
• Principal component analysis revealed a three-component structure for QUALIFY, with one component aligning with original scientific quality criteria.

Conclusions:

• The QUALIFY tool, despite some internal inconsistencies, can be a useful instrument for assessing mental health care QIs.
• Understanding QUALIFY's structure aids in research planning, interpretation, and the development of QIs in mental health.
• Further refinement of the QUALIFY tool may enhance its utility in psychiatric quality assessment.