Abstract
This study developed and validated a multidimensional measure of dyspepsia. A questionnaire was administered to 126 patients with dyspepsia who presented for care at a VA outpatient clinic and a family physician's private office. Dyspepsia-specific health was measured by self-report using: (1) an existing dyspepsia scale that produces an aggregate score by summing ratings across pain an non-pain symptoms; (2) adaptations of two scales originally designed to measure back pain; and (3) a new scale measuring satisfaction with dyspepsia-related health. Generic health was measured using the SF-36. Results from factor analysis revealed four dimensions of dyspepsia-related health: pain intensity, pain disability, non-pain symptoms, and satisfaction with dyspepsia-related health. After refinements, scales representing the four dimensions conformed to psychometric standards for reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. The importance of measuring dyspepsia using a multidimensional approach was confirmed by demonstrating that classification of dyspepsia severity depended on the dimension that was assessed. We conclude that dyspepsia is best measured using a multidimensional approach.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 99-106 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Epidemiology |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1 1998 |
Keywords
- Dyspepsia
- Health status
- Psychometrics
- Quality of life
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Epidemiology