ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2018
Assessing the equivalence of Web-based and paper-and-pencil questionnaires using differential item and test functioning (DIF and DTF) analysis: a case of the Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ).
Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Psychometric Validation of the New Misophonia Screening List-Child and Youth and AMISOS-Y (Dutch Child- and Parent-Report Versions) for Assessing Misophonia in Youth.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- A pilot study on traditional vs. digital self-administered questionnaire completion in the International Weight Control Registry.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2025Article
- The Current Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of the Neglected Methodology of Web-Based Questionnaires Among Chinese Health Workers: Web-Based Questionnaire Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Fear at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: validation of the Arabic version of the Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire among Saudi-based respondents.BJPsych open · 2021Article
- Reliability of Chinese web-based ocular surface disease index questionnaire in dry eye patients: a randomized, crossover study.International journal of ophthalmology · 2021Article
- An explorative analysis of the differences in levels of happiness between cancer patients, informal caregivers and the general population.BMC palliative care · 2020Article
- Using patient-reported measures to drive change in healthcare: the experience of the digital, continuous and systematic PREMs observatory in Italy.BMC health services research · 2020Article
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Abstract
purposeMany paper-and-pencil (P&P) questionnaires have been migrated to electronic platforms. Differential item and test functioning (DIF and DTF) analysis constitutes a superior research design to assess measurement equivalence across modes of administration. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate an item response theory (IRT)-based DIF and DTF analysis to assess the measurement equivalence of a Web-based version and the original P&P format of the Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ), measuring distress, depression, anxiety, and somatization.
methodsThe P&P group (n = 2031) and the Web group (n = 958) consisted of primary care psychology clients. Unidimensionality and local independence of the 4DSQ scales were examined using IRT and Yen's Q3. Bifactor modeling was used to assess the scales' essential unidimensionality. Measurement equivalence was assessed using IRT-based DIF analysis using a 3-stage approach: linking on the latent mean and variance, selection of anchor items, and DIF testing using the Wald test. DTF was evaluated by comparing expected scale scores as a function of the latent trait.
resultsThe 4DSQ scales proved to be essentially unidimensional in both modalities. Five items, belonging to the distress and somatization scales, displayed small amounts of DIF. DTF analysis revealed that the impact of DIF on the scale level was negligible.
conclusionsIRT-based DIF and DTF analysis is demonstrated as a way to assess the equivalence of Web-based and P&P questionnaire modalities. Data obtained with the Web-based 4DSQ are equivalent to data obtained with the P&P version.
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