1. Patient involvement in different phases of HTA
1.5. Evaluation of questionnaires
Providing evidence on patient aspects: Evaluation of questionnaires
Evaluating questionnaires is one of the aspects where patients should have an important role.
Many PROMs are used repeatedly because they have been used in clinical research before and have gained a reputation as a standard questionnaire. This applies to both, disease specific or general questionnaires. Questionnaires should be considered instruments, and each component must be calibrated to precisely measure what it is intended for and to meet all other validity criteria (more about this you can find in this course). Too often, however, scientists fail to validate and calibrate these measurement instruments which means that they may no longer capture the most patient relevant concepts - or the options or scales used for answers may seem irrelevant to patients.
When reviewing questionnaires patients can consider the following [8]:
- Is the questionnaire appropriate in the context of the HTA question?
- Is the questionnaire validated - and by which criteria? Validity assesses to which extent the instrument measures what it claims to measure.
- Are all questions related to the technology of interest?
- Does the questionnaire measure what it is intended for with acceptable precision? This is especially important if the questionnaire was developed for a different purpose than the HTA question.
- Is the questionnaire adapted to the patient group - or subgroup of patients who will be affected by the HTA-based decision?
- Does the questionnaire go beyond what is considered acceptable by the target group?
- Are all questions understood by all readers in the same way?
- Are questions presented in an acceptable language and style?
For further validation criteria please see the HTA Course 4, HTA and Evaluation Methods: Qualitative.