Development and validation of the Crohn's disease perceived work disability questionnaire

✍ Scribed by Mercedes Vergara; Antonia Montserrat; Francesc Casellas; Olga Gallardo; David Suarez; Jaume Motos; Albert Villoria; Mireia Miquel; Eva Martinez-Bauer; Xavier Calvet

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 189 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1078-0998
• DOI: 10.1002/ibd.21604

✦ Synopsis

Background: No validated instruments have been developed to measure work disability in Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of our study was to develop and validate a CD perceived work disability questionnaire (CPWDQ).

Methods: Development phase: an initial questionnaire containing 52 items was obtained from patients' interviews plus additional sources; it was completed by 106 patients and the 16 most significant items were selected using a psychometric method in order to create the CPWDQ. Validation phase: The validation assessed the questionnaire's convergent validity, discriminant validity, test-retest reproducibility, and internal consistency in 108 patients. Spearman rank correlation, t-test, intraclass correlation, and Cronbach's alpha were used for the analysis.

Results: Convergent validity was confirmed by good correlations between the CPWDQ and: clinical activity (r ¼ 0.59, P < 0.01), the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire, IBDQ-9, (r ¼ 0.76, P < 0.001), Euroqol-5D (r ¼ 0.53, P < 0.01), and overall work impairment (WPAI_CD) r ¼ 0.66 (P < 0.01). Discriminant validity: CPWQ scores were higher in patients expected to have more severe disability, that is, in patients with active disease (n ¼ 38) 32.3 6 7.3 versus inactive (n ¼ 70) 22.6 6 5.9 (P < 0.001), in those requiring previous sick leave 30.7 6 7.5 (n ¼ 45) versus no sick leave 22.6 6 6.6 (n ¼ 63) (P < 0.01), and in those requiring hospitalization 32.2 6 8.6 (n ¼ 18) versus no hospitalization 24.7 6 7.1 (n ¼ 90) (P < 0.01). Internal consistency was also good (Cronbach's alpha ¼ 0.89). Reproducibility: CPWDQ measures obtained 2 weeks apart showed an excellent intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.89 (95% CI: 0.83-0.93).

Conclusions:

The CPWDQ seems to be a valid, reliable tool for measuring subjective work disability in CD.