Psychometric Evaluation of a New Intake Questionnaire for Visually Impaired Young Adults in the Netherlands: The Participation and Activity Inventory for Young Adults (PAI-YA) (303380)

Keywords: low vision, rehabilitation, questionnaire, young adults, participation, factor analysis, item response theory, internal consistency, reliability, psychometric evaluation

The Participation and Activity for Young Adults (PAI-YA) was developed involving young adults (18--25 years) and professionals as stakeholders. This patient reported outcome (PRO) measure will be used by Dutch low vision rehabilitation centers to identify personal needs and goals of visually impaired young adults, in order to offer them rehabilitation. This study reports on the feasibility of the PAI-YA and a preliminary psychometric evaluation.

Young adult clients registered at two low vision rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands were invited to complete the 141-item PAI-YA (n=1085) using a web-based survey, a telephone interview or a paper-and-pencil version. The initial factor structure was based on a previous study in which a concept mapping procedure and multidimensional scaling was performed. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to assess the internal consistency reliability of the 17 dimensions.

A total of 191 young adults completed the questionnaire (response rate 18%). Participants mean age was 22 year (SD=2.44, range 16-30), and 45% was male. Preliminary findings indicate that over 90% of the young adults rated the PAI-YA neutral to very positive on various aspects, including duration to complete (mean=47, SD=28.3, range 8-180 minutes), representativeness of daily life activities, and applicability to use the questionnaire during the intake procedure. Cronbach’s alpha was between .65 for “self-care” and .94 for “information and regulations.”

The feasibility and preliminary psychometric properties of the PAI-YA seem promising. More results regarding the psychometric evaluation will be presented at the QDET2 conference, including a clear factor structure and analyses based on item-response theory. These will lead to final improvements to make the PAI-YA feasible for use in daily practice by rehabilitation centers. This will aid goal setting, rehabilitation referral and monitoring of young adults with a visual impairment.