Australian chiropractic students' perceptions of education: validation of a questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to validate a questionnaire to address an absence of a measure to evaluate Australian chiropractic students' perceptions of the quality of chiropractic programs. METHOD: Potential relevant questionnaire items were selected from the Australian chiropractic accreditation standards. Chiropractic students rated these items for clarity and relevance, which resulted in a pilot questionnaire of 47 items. Principal components analysis was used to establish the structure of the scales. Finally, intra-class correlation coefficients were used to establish the scales' test-retest reliability. RESULTS: Thirty-four items were omitted resulting in the retention of 13 items that strongly loaded onto five factors. Internal consistency was adequate. The test-retest reliability ranged from adequate to good for four of the derived factors. The fifth was poor and omitted. CONCLUSION: A valid questionnaire for assessing Australian chiropractic programs has been developed comprising four scales that enquire about: 1) quality of the educational program; 2) provision of student support services; 3) enablement of independent learning; and 4) adequacy of teaching resources.

CONTEXTE: Cette étude visait à valider un questionnaire destiné à combler le manque d'outils pour connaítre l'opinion d'étudiants australiens en chiropratique de la qualité des programmes d'études. MÉTHODOLOGIE: Des points, éventuellement pertinents, ont été choisis en fonction des normes australiennes d'agrément en chiropratique. Des étudiants ont évalué leur clarté et leur pertinence; un questionnaire pilote comprenant 47 questions a été établi. Les points principaux ont servi à établir la structure des échelles. Des coefficients de corrélation interclasses ont servi à établir la fiabilité du test-retest des échelles. RÉSULTATS: Trente-quatre points ont été rejetés; on en a conservé 13 portant surtout sur cinq facteurs. La cohérence interne était suffisante. La fiabilité du test retest allait d'adéquate à bonne pour quatre des facteurs dérivés. Le degré de fiabilité du cinquième était faible et celui-ci a été omis. CONCLUSION: On a élaboré un questionnaire utile servant à évaluer des programmes d'études en chiropratique offerts en Australie. Quatre échelles ont servi à sonder les étudiants sur 1) la qualité des programmes de formation; 2) les services d'aide aux étudiants; 3) l'enseignement individualisé; et 4) la suffisance des ressources pédagogiques offerte.

Bullying in Fly-In-Fly-Out employees in the Australian resources sector: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Workplace bullying has diverse consequences at both the organisational and individual level. Anecdotal reports indicate that workplace bullying is an issue of particular concern for Australian FIFO workers, which may impact on psychosocial distress. However, no prior studies have examined this issue empirically in a FIFO worker cohort. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A cross-sectional survey study design was used to establish the prevalence of bullying in Australian FIFO, antecedents of bullying, and its association with psychosocial distress. Responses were received from 580 FIFO workers in the Australian resources sector. Primary outcome measures were Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory II, and Beck Hopelessness Scale. Logistic regression models were constructed to examine the association between bullying, suicide risk, and clinical depression. RESULTS: Over half of the respondents experienced workplace bullying (55.7%), and about one-third reported moderate or more severe depression (32.3%). Being above the median age (OR = 0.51; 95% CI = 0.31-0.83) and having a supervisor who failed to promote collaboration (OR = 3.04; 95% CI = 1.84-5.04) were both significantly associated with experiencing bullying. Bullying was associated with an almost threefold increase in the likelihood of participants reporting increased suicide risk (OR = 2.70; 95% CI = 1.53-4.76). Bullying was also associated with participants being almost two and a half times more likely to report clinical depression (OR = 2.38; 95% CI = 1.40-4.05). CONCLUSION: The incidence of bullying in Australian FIFO workers has reached alarming proportions. Bullying was significantly associated with higher levels of clinical depression and suicide risk. The results highlight the need to implement in the Australian resource sector interventions that reduce workplace bullying.

Depression, suicide risk, and workplace bullying: a comparative study of fly-in, fly-out and residential resource workers in Australia.

Objectives The primary objective of this study was to establish whether clinical depression and increased suicide risk differed between Australian fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers and their residential counterparts in the resources sector. We also sought to identify whether bullying and social support were associated with depression and suicide risk in this cohort. Methods A cross-sectional survey design was used. Completed questionnaires were received from 751 respondents who were employed in the Australian resources sector. Primary outcomes were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale and Negative Acts Questionnaire - Revised. A general linear model was used to examine the association between depression, hopelessness and predictive factors. Results The results of a general linear model analysis demonstrated that depression (partial η2 = 0.02; P = 0.01) and hopelessness (partial η2 = 0.02; P = 0.02) were significantly higher in residential than FIFO workers. In addition, bullying was significantly associated with higher levels of depression (partial η2 = 0.11; P = 0.001) and hopelessness (partial η2 = 0.04; P = 0.001). Finally, increased social support was significantly associated with lower depression rates (partial η2 = 0.13; P = 0.001) and hopelessness (partial η2 = 0.14; P = 0.001). Conclusions Interventions should be delivered to reduce depression and hopelessness in Australian resource workers, particularly through addressing workplace bullying and enhancing social support. What is known about the topic? One-third of Australian resource workers experience psychosocial distress. Research examining factors that influence such distress is lacking. What does this paper add? The results of this study demonstrate that clinical depression and suicide risk were significantly higher in residential resource workers than in FIFO workers. Depression and suicide risk were directly associated with workplace bullying. In addition, social support was an important protective factor against depression and bullying in Australian FIFO and residential resource workers. What are the implications for practitioners? There is an urgent need to introduce interventions that reduce psychosocial distress in the resource sector, particularly through the mitigation of bullying.

Chiropractic students' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to joining a professional association".

Background: In Australia, about 1 in 3 chiropractors choose not to belong to either of the two professional associations and this is considerably lower compared to other health professional organisations in this country. The reasons for this remain unknown. We sought to explore possible reasons by asking chiropractic students their perceptions of barriers and facilitators to joining a professional association. However, we were unable to identify validated survey instruments that could be used to obtain information about reasons for joining health professional associations. Aim: Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: 1) develop a survey instrument that captures information about what influences chiropractic students in joining professional association; and 2) identify factors that promote association membership among chiropractic students. Methods: A literature review was undertaken to identify known determinants of professional association membership and were used to construct a preliminary survey instrument, which comprised 47 items. Six fourth-year chiropractic students assessed the preliminary survey instrument's content validity. Principal components analysis was used to establish the structure of the scales. Cronbach's alpha was derived to determine whether all items in each scale tapped a discrete construct. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between the scale scores and having joined a chiropractic professional association. Results: In March 2019, 348 chiropractic students from Murdoch University (71.0%) responded to a voluntary, anonymous questionnaire. Principal components analysis resulted in the retention of 21 items that strongly loaded onto 6 factors. Internal consistency was found to be adequate. The results of the logistic regression analysis demonstrated that only "development of the profession" was significantly associated with have joined a professional chiropractic association (p = 0.049, OR = 2.22; 95% CI = 1.26-3.40). Conclusion: Chiropractic organisations can probably most effectively increase membership numbers through raising awareness of their contribution to the development of the profession.

Development and Validation of the Performance-Based Situation Awareness Observation Schedule (PBSAOS): The Process and Lessons Learned.

BACKGROUND: No instruments are currently available to assess nursing students' maintenance of situation awareness. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Performance-Based Situation Awareness Observation Schedule for measuring nursing students' use of situation awareness. METHOD: Twelve expert clinicians participated in a qualitative, reiterative consensus-driven process to establish the content validity of the tool. The tool was then piloted during the delivery of a situation awareness education program for final-year nursing students. Cohen's kappa was used to assess the interrater reliability. RESULTS: The resultant tool comprised 54 items, which captured strategies to maintain situation awareness and task errors that would infer the presence of situation awareness. The values obtained for Cohen's kappa indicated that the level of agreement was at least substantial for approximately 80% of the items. CONCLUSION: This study developed a valid and reliable tool to measure nursing students' use of situation awareness. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(8):468-473.].

Australian mental health caregiver burden: a smallest space analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To explore Australian mental health carers' prioritisation of key elements of caregiving and establish the extent to which particular issues contribute to carer burden. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: All Australian States and Territories. PARTICIPANTS: Responses were received from 231 Australian mental health caregivers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire was used to assess caregiver burden. RESULTS: Smallest space analysis identified three distinct regions, which we conceptualise as: 1) promoting the safety and health of mental health consumers; 2) impact of caring on caregivers' personal lives and 3) enabling daily living functional recovery of mental health consumers. The analysis demonstrates that carers are most concerned with enabling daily living functional recovery, for which the mean value was considerably higher than the personal impact and promoting safety and health regions. In terms of the individual questionnaire items, the issues of most importance are assisting with self-care, worrying about consumers' future, finances and general health, encouraging consumer involvement in activities and concerns over the treatment consumers are receiving. CONCLUSION: Caregiving often came at significant personal cost. The burden that results from caring for mental health consumers could perhaps be alleviated through the expansion of psychiatric disability services, increasing government financial support and providing tailored psychosocial interventions that meet the needs of families.

The adoption of person-centred care in chiropractic practice and its effect on non-specific spinal pain: An observational study.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to identify: 1) the extent to which final year chiropractic students used components of person-centred care in a clinical setting; and 2) determine the effect of chiropractic students' use of person-centred care on musculoskeletal pain. DESIGN/SETTING: An observational study was conducted at three Western Australian chiropractic teaching clinics. INTERVENTIONS: Pragmatic individualised chiropractic care was delivered to 108 adults who experienced non-specific spinal pain. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The instruments used in this study were the Consultation and Relational Empathy questionnaire, Picker Musculoskeletal Disorder Questionnaire, and Numerical Rating scale for Pain intensity. RESULTS: Participants experienced reductions in pain that exceeded the level required for minimal clinically reported improvement. In addition, high levels of empathy and patient -centred care were reported. Ceiling effects for the measures assessing empathy and patient-centred care precluded analyses examining the relationship between changes in pain intensity, empathy, and patient-centred care. CONCLUSIONS: The participants in this study displayed very positive attitudes about most aspects of the chiropractic students' person-centred care skills. Person-centred care processes for which there was considerable scope for improvement included advice about alternative treatment options, and the adaptation of lifestyle and workplace situations to alleviate pain and enhance health. Our findings also showed that the participants experienced clinically important improvement in pain. However, the skewed nature of our dataset precluded identifying whether the students' person-centred care skills influenced such improvement.

Performance based situation awareness observations in a simulated clinical scenario pre and post an educational intervention.

This study compared final year nursing students' error rate and use of strategies to maintain SA when undertaking specific nursing care in a simulated clinical environment pre and 10 weeks post a planned SA education intervention. Students were observed using a Performance Based Situation Awareness Observation Schedule (PBSAOS) undertaking two tasks in a simulated clinical environment pre and post the SA education. For task 1, post educational intervention, there was no significant increase in the error rate for any performance measures, and there were significant decreases in the error rates for three performance measures. For task 2, post educational intervention, there was a significant decrease in the error rate for two measures and a significant increase in the error rates for seven performance measures. In considering the overall group error rate when excluding uncompleted tasks, there was a significant (x = .0001) decrease in the error rate for task 1 post educational intervention (41.4% compared to 26.6%), and significant (x = 0.01) increase in the error for task 2 post educational intervention (39.6% compared to 47.3%). The findings of this study demonstrate that the implementation of an intervention designed to increase SA actually appear to have resulted in hyper-vigilance and subsequent non-completion of required tasks.

A cross-sectional study of the association between anxiety and temporomandibular disorder in Australian chiropractic students.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association between anxiety and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) in Australian chiropractic students, particularly its effect on quality of life. METHODS: Chiropractic students (n = 185) completed online surveys, including the Oral Health Impact Profile for TMDs (OHIP-TMD) and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) questionnaire. The OHIP-TMD psychometric properties were assessed using principal component analysis. Linear regression models were used to examine demographic predictors for anxiety and TMD. A general linear model assessed the association between anxiety and the psychosocial and function scales identified through analysis of the OHIP-TMD questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean value for the OHIP-TMD and PROMIS was 1.3 (SD = 0.7) and 9.5 (SD = 4.1), respectively. Women reported significantly lower quality of life (QoL) related to TMD symptoms (p = 0.006) and that QoL related to TMD symptoms increased significantly as students progressed through the course (p = .025). Lower levels of anxiety were significantly associated with male gender (p = .000), employment (p = .008), higher program levels (p = .003), and having children (p = .005). General linear model analysis revealed that increased anxiety was significantly associated with higher levels of oral physical function impairment (p = .003) and elevated psychosocial distress (p = .0001). CONCLUSION: Anxiety was significantly associated with psychosocial distress and oral physical function impairment in university chiropractic students. In addition to impacting on oral health-related QoL, anxiety also affects students' engagement with learning and academic performance. It would therefore be beneficial to implement strategies that mitigate students' anxiety levels.

The association between gratitude and burden in Australian mental health carers: a cross-sectional study.

The level of carer burden has increased as carers take on more responsibility for mental health consumers as a result of the contemporary shift in the delivery of services from institutional to community settings. Interventions are required to mitigate mental health carer burden. Therefore, we examined the association between dispositional gratitude and burden in a cross-sectional survey of 231 Australian mental health carers. Dispositional gratitude was assessed by the S-GRAT, and carer burden was measured using the Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire. The results of a general linear model demonstrated that higher levels of a lack of sense of deprivation were significantly associated with lower levels of tension, worrying and urging. In contrast, higher levels of simple appreciation were significantly associated with higher levels of supervision, worrying and urging. Our findings highlight that gratitude interventions should focus on promoting a lack of sense of deprivation and appreciation of others in order to reduce mental health carer burden.

Revisiting the Pain Resource Nurse Role in Sustaining Evidence-Based Practice Changes for Pain Assessment and Management.

BACKGROUND: Effective pain management is unlikely to occur without consistent and timely assessments. To improve assessment and management of pain, ward-based pain resource nurses were introduced in 2007 to facilitate hospital-wide evidence-based practice changes using three key targets. One-year post implementation of this quality improvement project, promising results were revealed. AIMS: The purpose of this study, 8 years post implementation, was to (a) evaluate sustained practice improvements in pain assessment and management, (b) assess current pain resource nurse knowledge and attitudes to pain, (c) explore characteristics of the pain resource nurse role, as well as (d) any perceived contextual changes regarding study findings. METHODS: A mixed-methods approach was used to address study aims. Quantitative data were collected from documentation audits and a "Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain." Qualitative interviews explored the characteristics of the pain resource nurse role, and a focus group discussion explored the context of change. RESULTS: Significant improvements were observed for the documentation of pain scores on admission and for each nursing shift. Survey results highlighted potential knowledge deficits in key practice areas, even though interview findings suggested that pain resource nurses provided a resource for peers, raised awareness of best practice, and imparted knowledge to other ward staff. An important facilitator for the pain resource nurse role was the ongoing collaboration and support from specific pain teams, and barriers to engage in the role were competing workload priorities, and limited awareness among other ward staff. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: Implementing and sustaining evidence-based practice change in clinical practice is challenging. Ongoing evaluation is necessary for identifying the long-term implications of practice improvement interventions and issues that influence the adoption of evidence-based practice. Strategies to address barriers, and to increase awareness and engagement of the pain resource nurse role with wider collaboration require further investigation.

The influence of situation awareness training on nurses' confidence about patient safety skills: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Several studies report that patient safety skills, especially non-technical skills, receive scant attention in nursing curricula. Hence, there is a compelling reason to incorporate material that enhances non-technical skills, such as situation awareness, in nursing curricula in order to assist in the reduction of healthcare related adverse events. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to: 1) understand final year nursing students' confidence in their patient safety skills; and 2) examine the impact of situation awareness training on final year nursing students' confidence in their patient safety skills. METHODS: Participants were enrolled from a convenience sample comprising final year nursing students at a Western Australia university. Self-reported confidence in patient safety skills was assessed with the Health Professional in Patient Safety Survey before and after the delivery of a situation awareness educational intervention. Pre/post educational intervention differences were examined by repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: No significant differences in confidence about patient safety skills were identified within settings (class/clinical). However, confidence in patient safety skills significantly decreased between settings i.e. nursing students lost confidence after clinical placements. CONCLUSION: The educational intervention delivered in this study did not seem to improve confidence in patient safety skills, but substantial ceiling effects may have confounded the identification of such improvement. Further studies are required to establish whether the findings of this study can be generalised to other university nursing cohorts.

Understanding advocacy practice in mental health: a multidimensional scalogram analysis of case records.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined mental health consumers' motives for seeking advocacy assistance. AIMS: This study aimed to identify factors that influenced mental health consumers' use of advocacy services. METHODS: The analysis was based on 60 case records that were sourced from a community advocacy service. Each record was dichotomously coded across 11 variables to generate a series of categorical data profiles. The data set was then analysed using multidimensional scalogram analysis to reveal key relationships between subsets of variables. RESULTS: The results indicated that mental health consumers commonly reported a sense of fear, which motivated them to contact the advocacy service in the hope that advocates could intervene on their behalf through effective communication with health professionals. Advocates often undertook such intervention either through attending meetings between the consumer and health professionals or contacting health professionals outside of meetings, which was typically successful in terms of achieving mental health consumers' desired outcome. The resolution of most concerns suggests that they were often legitimate and not the result of a lack of insight or illness symptoms. CONCLUSION: Health professionals might consider exploring how they respond when consumers or carers raise concerns about the delivery of mental health care.

Carers' involvement in decision making about antipsychotic medication: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Current Australian mental health policy recommends that carers should be involved in the provision of mental health services. Carers often provide intensive support to mental health consumers and gain detailed insight into their lives. As such, carers could make valuable contributions to well-informed decisions about mental health consumers' use of antipsychotic medication. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore carers' participation in antipsychotic medication decision making. METHODS: Snowball sampling was used to enrol 29 carers in this study. Of these carers, 19 participated in semi-structured interviews, and ten participated in a focus group. Data were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from the analysis. The findings highlighted that carers typically received little or no information about antipsychotic medication. Carers commonly addressed the shortfall in information by obtaining additional information through online sources or distributing among carer networks material that they had developed themselves. Almost all carers emphasized that they should be involved in decisions about antipsychotic medication, but noted that they were typically excluded. The lack of involvement in medication decisions was a source of frustration, as carers could contribute saliently through sharing detailed knowledge about mental health consumers' lives, address communication gaps that resulted from disjointed care and improve communication between health professionals and mental health consumers. CONCLUSION: Health professionals could consider improving the extent to which they collaborate with carers in medication decisions.

Australian mental health nurses' perspectives about the identification and management of antipsychotic medication side effects: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Currently, little is known about mental health nurses' management of antipsychotic medication side effects. AIMS: This study examined how Australian mental health nurses' attitudes and service processes influence the assessment of antipsychotic medication side effects. METHODS: Participants were included if they were registered nurses in Australian mental health settings. An online questionnaire was distributed via email. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine associations between attitudes and awareness, and use of antipsychotic medication assessment tools. RESULTS: Only one quarter of the respondents were currently using a tool. In cases where the service had a clear system for agreeing responsibility about monitoring consumers between primary and secondary care, respondents were three times more likely to still be using one or more tool. When the service had reliable systems in place to remind staff that side effect assessments were due, respondents were five times more likely to continue using assessment tools. CONCLUSION: Australian mental nurses are not routinely using antipsychotic medication side effect assessment tools. The routine use of assessment tools would improve if systems were implemented to enhance their use.

Participation in mental healthcare: a qualitative meta-synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Facilitation of service user participation in the co-production of mental healthcare planning and service delivery is an integral component of contemporary mental health policy and clinical guidelines. However, many service users continue to experience exclusion from the planning of their care. This review synthesizes qualitative research about participation in mental healthcare and articulates essential processes that enable service user participation in mental health care. METHODS: Electronic databases were systematically searched. Studies were included if they were peer reviewed qualitative studies, published between 2000 and 2015, examining participation in mental health care. The Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist was used to assess the quality of each included study. Constant comparison was used to identify similar constructs across several studies, which were then abstracted into thematic constructs. RESULTS: The synthesis resulted in the identification of six principal themes, which articulate key processes that facilitate service user participation in mental healthcare. These themes included: exercising influence; tokenism; sharing knowledge; lacking capacity; respect; and empathy. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-synthesis demonstrates that service user participation in mental healthcare remains a policy aspiration, which generally has not been translated into clinical practice. The continued lack of impact on policy on the delivery of mental healthcare suggests that change may have to be community driven. Systemic service user advocacy groups could contribute critically to promoting authentic service user participation in the co-production of mental health services.

Tracking low back pain in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a prospective cohort study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Numerous methodological limitations have constrained the findings of previous studies that have examined the prevalence of low back pain in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. This article presents a study protocol that has been designed to address the shortcomings of prior research in this area. In addition, it will establish the level of disease burden associated with acute, recurrent, and chronic low back pain in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: This study will involve a prospective cohort of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis presenting to an outpatient department in a paediatric hospital. Potential participants will be eligible for inclusion if they are aged 10-17 years, experience adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, own a mobile phone, and are able to communicate in either French or English adequately. The primary outcome measure is the presence of low back pain. The secondary outcome will be measures with the Brief Pain Questionnaire and the PedsQL questionnaire. Participants will be followed over a 12-month period reporting weekly, via SMS-tracking. DISCUSSION: Previous studies frequently established the prevalence of low back pain through asking participants to recall whether they experienced low back pain over certain periods. These periods often extended beyond many months, and hence were subject to recall bias. Our study addresses such bias through gathering data on a weekly basis using SMS-tracking providing detailed information about the progression of low back pain, which allows researchers to establish the prevalence of acute, recurrent, and chronic low back pain with a better certainty. Furthermore, the previous studies failed to use a standardised definition of low back pain. As such, it is not possible to determine whether the reported low back pain was experienced at the following standardised defined location: "pain in the space between the lower posterior margin of the rib cage and the horizontal gluteal fold". CONCLUSION: This research protocol will be the first study to determine the proportion of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis who experience acute, recurrent, and chronic low back pain, and establish the level of the burden associated with these subgroups of low back pain.

Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review of clinical trials of spinal manipulative therapy for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: Search strategies were developed for PubMed, CINHAL, and CENTRAL databases. Studies were included through June 2016 if they were prospective trials that evaluated spinal manipulative therapy (eg, chiropractic, osteopathic, physical therapy) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Data were extracted and assessed by 2 independent reviewers. Cochrane risk of bias tools were used to assess the quality of the included studies. Data were reported qualitatively because heterogeneity prevented statistical pooling. RESULTS: Four studies satisfied the inclusion criteria and were critically appraised. The findings of the included studies indicated that spinal manipulative therapy might be effective for preventing curve progression or reducing Cobb angle. However, the lack of controls and small sample sizes precluded robust estimation of the interventions' effect sizes. CONCLUSION: There is currently insufficient evidence to establish whether spinal manipulative therapy may be beneficial for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The results of the included studies suggest that spinal manipulative therapy may be a promising treatment, but these studies were all at substantial risk of bias. Further high-quality studies are warranted to conclusively determine if spinal manipulative therapy may be effective in the management of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Revisiting the psychometric properties of the Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) French version.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is among the most common spinal deformities affecting adolescents. The Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire is commonly used to assess health-related quality of life in AIS patients, including pain. The objective of this study is to verify the psychometric properties of the Scoliosis Research Society-22 French version (SRS-22fv) questionnaire. METHODS: A prospective methodological design was used to verify the psychometric properties of the French version of the SRS-22fv. Participants were initially recruited from the orthopaedic scoliosis department at Sainte-Justine Hospital (Montreal, Canada) and completed the SRS-22fv and the SF-12 questionnaire. The SRS-22fv's structure was evaluated through principal component analysis (PCA). Linear regression was used to assess convergent validity between the SRS-22fv and the SF-12. RESULTS: Data was available from 352 participants with AIS. Most participants were female (87%, n = 307), and the average age was 14.3 (SD = 1.8) years. The mean thoracic and lumbar Cobb angles were 27.9° (SD = 3.3) and 23.6° (SD = 9.4), respectively. Overall, 71.4% (n = 252) of the participants presented with spinal pain. About one-third (29%) reported thoracic pain, and almost half (44%) experienced lumbar pain. The PCA identified four redundant items, which resulted in a modified 18-item questionnaire. In comparison to the original questionnaire, the modified version showed higher levels of internal consistency for four of the five factors, explained a greater proportion of the total variance (63.3%), and generated higher inter-item total correlations. CONCLUSION: We propose a shorter version of the SRS-22fv, thus the Canadian SRS-18fv, which showed an improved internal consistency and scale structure compared to the original SRS-22fv. We believe that this modified version would be better suited to assess the quality of life of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis.