FACE VALIDITY OF THE 9-ITEM EQ HEALTH AND WELLBEING (EQ-HWB-9) IN RESIDENTIAL AGED CARE FACILITIES IN ITALY
Author(s)
MICHELA MEREGAGLIA, PhD1, Francesco Benito Malandrini, PharmD1, Elisabetta Notarnicola, PhD1, Aureliano Paolo Paolo Finch, PhD2, Oriana Ciani, BSc, MSc, PhD1, A Simon Pickard, PhD3.
1CERGAS SDA Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 2EuroQol Research Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 3University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
1CERGAS SDA Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 2EuroQol Research Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 3University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
OBJECTIVES: The EuroQol Health and Wellbeing Short (EQ-HWB-9) is a new, generic 9-item instrument, suitable for administration in health and social care settings. This study is part of a larger project exploring the psychometric properties of EQ-HWB-9 in older people living in residential aged care facilities in Italy. The current work examines the face validity of the instrument, which is about whether the target participants find the items understandable, relevant and appropriate.
METHODS: We performed semi-structured in-person interviews with a sample of older residents selected by the aged care staff based on their cognitive-communication skills. The interviews followed an interview guide and used the think-aloud approach where participants are asked to speak out loud to articulate their thoughts while they are completing the questionnaire. Once the EQ-HWB-9 was completed, participants were asked to reflect on whether the instrument was clear, comprehensive, understandable, and easy to answer. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using qualitative content analysis.
RESULTS: In total, we interviewed 40 residents living across eight aged care facilities in Northern Italy. The mean age was 84.1 (±8.0) and 57% were female. The mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score (0-30) was 26.2 (±3.6), suggesting largely preserved cognitive function. Most respondents perceived the EQ-HWB-9 as comprehensible, appropriate and relevant to older people. However, three residents expressed discomfort and dissatisfaction with responding, and others felt that very old or cognitively impaired people may have difficulty understanding questions or adhering to the recall period. Moreover, several missing quality-of-life domains have been identified, including boredom, sleeplessness and drowsiness, anger and frustration, homesickness, discomfort, vision and hearing impairment, shame, and lack of physical/sporting/outdoor activity.
CONCLUSIONS: These results may help understanding the appropriateness of EQ-HWB-9 and other generic quality-of-life measures and inform the development of new instruments for use in older people living in aged care facilities.
METHODS: We performed semi-structured in-person interviews with a sample of older residents selected by the aged care staff based on their cognitive-communication skills. The interviews followed an interview guide and used the think-aloud approach where participants are asked to speak out loud to articulate their thoughts while they are completing the questionnaire. Once the EQ-HWB-9 was completed, participants were asked to reflect on whether the instrument was clear, comprehensive, understandable, and easy to answer. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using qualitative content analysis.
RESULTS: In total, we interviewed 40 residents living across eight aged care facilities in Northern Italy. The mean age was 84.1 (±8.0) and 57% were female. The mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score (0-30) was 26.2 (±3.6), suggesting largely preserved cognitive function. Most respondents perceived the EQ-HWB-9 as comprehensible, appropriate and relevant to older people. However, three residents expressed discomfort and dissatisfaction with responding, and others felt that very old or cognitively impaired people may have difficulty understanding questions or adhering to the recall period. Moreover, several missing quality-of-life domains have been identified, including boredom, sleeplessness and drowsiness, anger and frustration, homesickness, discomfort, vision and hearing impairment, shame, and lack of physical/sporting/outdoor activity.
CONCLUSIONS: These results may help understanding the appropriateness of EQ-HWB-9 and other generic quality-of-life measures and inform the development of new instruments for use in older people living in aged care facilities.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
PCR63
Topic
Patient-Centered Research, Study Approaches
Topic Subcategory
Patient-reported Outcomes & Quality of Life Outcomes
Disease
Geriatrics