Hoekstra-van Duijn Maria Louise Dieudonnée, Wissing Maureen Bernardina Gerardus, Bindels Patrick Jan Eugène, Maes-Festen Dederieke Anne Maria
Department of General Practice, Intellectual Disability Medicine Research, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Academic Collaborative Research Center Healthy Ageing and Intellectual Disabilities, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2025 Aug;69(8):703-710. doi: 10.1111/jir.13256. Epub 2025 May 31.
People with intellectual disabilities often use psychotropic medications. Recognising side effects in this population can be challenging while they can negatively impact the quality of life. An accurate screening instrument is crucial to identify side effects of psychotropic medication in people with intellectual disabilities. For this purpose, the Matson Evaluation of Drug Side Effects (MEDS) is the most reliable and well-researched instrument. We translated the MEDS into Dutch, considering that the Dutch version of the MEDS must be accurate and aligned with its intended meaning, avoiding multiple interpretations; this study aimed to assess its intrarater and interrater reliabilities in people with intellectual disabilities using psychotropic medication.
A certified medical translation agency performed translation and back-translation of the MEDS. Two researchers administered the MEDS three times on the same day. Participants were people with intellectual disabilities using psychotropic medication. Demographic and medical data were collected via questionnaires. Scoring and calculation of total domain scores, severity domain scores, duration domain scores and composite scale scores followed the MEDS manual. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and 95% confidence intervals of these scores were used to assess intrarater and interrater reliabilities.
The study sample included 40 adults with intellectual disabilities. Intrarater reliability was good to excellent for total domain scores (ICCs ranging from 0.873 to 1.000) and excellent for the total composite scale score (ICC = 0.945). Interrater reliability was moderate to excellent for total domain scores (ICCs ranging from 0.713 to 0.922) and good for the total composite scale score (ICC = 0.894).
This study demonstrated moderate to excellent intrarater and interrater reliabilities for the Dutch version of the MEDS. This confirms its potential as a valuable instrument for clinicians to identify and monitor side effects in people with intellectual disabilities using psychotropic medication. We recommend the use of the Dutch version of the MEDS in both Dutch clinical practice and research for this purpose.
智障人士经常使用精神药物。识别该人群中的副作用具有挑战性，同时这些副作用会对生活质量产生负面影响。一种准确的筛查工具对于识别智障人士使用精神药物的副作用至关重要。为此，《马特森药物副作用评估量表》（MEDS）是最可靠且研究充分的工具。我们将MEDS翻译成荷兰语，考虑到荷兰语版的MEDS必须准确且与原意一致，避免多种解读；本研究旨在评估其在使用精神药物的智障人士中的评分者内信度和评分者间信度。
一家经认证的医学翻译机构对MEDS进行了翻译和回译。两名研究人员在同一天对MEDS进行了三次施测。参与者为使用精神药物的智障人士。通过问卷收集人口统计学和医学数据。总领域得分、严重程度领域得分、持续时间领域得分和综合量表得分的评分及计算遵循MEDS手册。这些得分的组内相关系数（ICC）和95%置信区间用于评估评分者内信度和评分者间信度。
研究样本包括40名成年智障人士。总领域得分的评分者内信度良好至优秀（ICC范围为0.873至1.000），总综合量表得分的评分者内信度优秀（ICC = 0.945）。总领域得分的评分者间信度中等至优秀（ICC范围为0.713至0.922），总综合量表得分的评分者间信度良好（ICC = 0.894）。
本研究表明荷兰语版MEDS具有中等至优秀的评分者内信度和评分者间信度。这证实了其作为临床医生识别和监测使用精神药物的智障人士副作用的有价值工具的潜力。为此，我们建议在荷兰的临床实践和研究中使用荷兰语版的MEDS。
