# Test-retest reliability and responsiveness of health status questionnaires

**URL:** <https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/test-retest-reliability-and-responsiveness-of-health-status-questionnaires/6219>\
**Category:** survey\
**Created:** [November 18, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/test-retest-reliability-and-responsiveness-of-health-status-questionnaires/6219 "2022-11-18T02:26:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hanis\_Kadir](https://discourse.datamethods.org/user_avatar/discourse.datamethods.org/hanis_kadir/32/1379_2.png) [@Hanis\_Kadir](https://discourse.datamethods.org/u/Hanis_Kadir)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/test-retest-reliability-and-responsiveness-of-health-status-questionnaires/6219/1 "2022-11-18T02:26:52Z")

</div>

Hi, I would like to validate an end-of-life questionnaire, and have some questions to ask regarding measurement properties **(1) test-retest reliability** and **(2) responsiveness**.

I understand that (1) assesses the degree to which the participant’s performance is repeatable; i.e., how consistent their scores are across time, I have chosen the time points; _week 4 and week 8_ for this. And (2) is defined as the ability of a questionnaire to detect clinically important changes over time, I have chosen the time points; _baseline and week 4_, where patients had a palliative intervention.

In [Long et al](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-021-00737-y), they have a global change question, and only patients that indicated “no change” are included for test-retest reliability. In my study, we collected ECOG scores at all time points. Should I only include patients whose ECOG score remained the same across the 2 time points? Or is it okay to include all patients?  
 ![image](https://discourse.datamethods.org/uploads/default/original/2X/9/939dfb884a3533709bfc5311d5b0d58961f78c78.jpeg)

Similarly for responsiveness, should I only include patients whose ECOG score remained the same or improved?

Thanks, would appreciate any advice. 🙂

EDIT: included the ECOG scale for reference

 ![image](https://discourse.datamethods.org/uploads/default/original/2X/2/247496b69bf1e05a491f1bb0581c503cdea21628.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![f2harrell](https://discourse.datamethods.org/user_avatar/discourse.datamethods.org/f2harrell/32/165_2.png) [@f2harrell](https://discourse.datamethods.org/u/f2harrell)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/test-retest-reliability-and-responsiveness-of-health-status-questionnaires/6219/2 "2022-11-18T14:06:52Z")

</div>

Please specify which change = 0 you are conditioning on. Is it week 4 minus baseline? And wouldn’t you need two baseline measurements to condition on? I’m wary of any conditioning on non-baselines.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shatepon90](https://discourse.datamethods.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shatepon90](https://discourse.datamethods.org/u/Shatepon90)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/test-retest-reliability-and-responsiveness-of-health-status-questionnaires/6219/3 "2022-11-19T13:29:46Z")

</div>

1. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)

The PHQ is a self-administered questionnaire designed to screen for depression in adults over the age of 14 years old. The PHQ consists of 9 questions that assess symptoms of depression including feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, guilt, sleep problems, appetite changes, concentration difficulties, suicidal thoughts, and psychomotor agitation or retardation. A score of 10 or greater indicates a probable diagnosis of major depressive disorder.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![f2harrell](https://discourse.datamethods.org/user_avatar/discourse.datamethods.org/f2harrell/32/165_2.png) [@f2harrell](https://discourse.datamethods.org/u/f2harrell)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/test-retest-reliability-and-responsiveness-of-health-status-questionnaires/6219/4 "2022-11-19T13:31:41Z")

</div>

Please tell us how that relates to the ECOG discussion. And note that the cutoff of 10 was never validated.