Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2023 Aug;29(7):696-703. doi: 10.1017/S1355617722000807. Epub 2022 Nov 3.
Despite the public health burden of traumatic brain injury (TBI) across broader society, most TBI studies have been isolated to a distinct subpopulation. The TBI research literature is fragmented further because often studies of distinct populations have used different assessment procedures and instruments. Addressing calls to harmonize the literature will require tools to link data collected from different instruments that measure the same construct, such as civilian mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and sports concussion symptom inventories.
We used item response theory (IRT) to link scores from the Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) and the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) symptom checklist, widely used instruments for assessing civilian and sport-related mTBI symptoms, respectively. The sample included data from = 397 patients who suffered a sports-related concussion, civilian mTBI, orthopedic injury control, or non-athlete control and completed the SCAT and/or RPQ.
The results of several analyses supported sufficient unidimensionality to treat the RPQ + SCAT combined item set as measuring a single construct. Fixed-parameter IRT was used to create a cross-walk table that maps RPQ total scores to SCAT symptom severity scores. Linked and observed scores were highly correlated ( = .92). Standard errors of the IRT scores were slightly higher for civilian mTBI patients and orthopedic controls, particularly for RPQ scores linked from the SCAT.
By linking the RPQ to the SCAT we facilitated efforts to effectively combine samples and harmonize data relating to mTBI.
尽管创伤性脑损伤（TBI）在更广泛的社会中造成了公共卫生负担，但大多数 TBI 研究都局限于特定的亚人群。TBI 研究文献进一步支离破碎，因为通常对不同人群的研究使用了不同的评估程序和工具。为了解决呼吁协调文献的问题，需要使用工具将来自不同工具的相同结构数据联系起来，例如平民性轻度创伤性脑损伤（mTBI）和运动性脑震荡症状清单。
我们使用项目反应理论（IRT）将 Rivermead 脑震荡后症状问卷（RPQ）和运动性脑震荡评估工具（SCAT）症状检查表的分数联系起来，这两种工具广泛用于评估平民和与运动相关的 mTBI 症状。样本包括来自 397 名患者的数据，这些患者遭受了与运动相关的脑震荡、平民性 mTBI、骨科损伤控制或非运动员控制，并完成了 SCAT 和/或 RPQ。
多项分析的结果支持足够的单维性，可将 RPQ + SCAT 组合项目集视为测量单个结构。固定参数 IRT 用于创建一个交叉步行表，将 RPQ 总分映射到 SCAT 症状严重程度得分。链接和观察得分高度相关（=。92）。平民性 mTBI 患者和骨科对照组的 IRT 分数的标准误差略高，尤其是从 SCAT 链接的 RPQ 分数。
通过将 RPQ 与 SCAT 联系起来，我们促进了有效结合样本和协调与 mTBI 相关数据的努力。
