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Construct Validity of the EUROHIS-QOL for Rehabilitation Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2016

Harsha N. Perera  and
James A. Athanasou
Harsha N. Perera
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, College of Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
James A. Athanasou*
Affiliation:
Discipline of Rehabilitation Counselling, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Lidcombe NSW 2141, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: James A. Athanasou, Discipline of Rehabilitation Counselling, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, 75 East Street, Lidcombe NSW 2141, Australia. E-mail: james.athanasou@sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

The use of the EUROHIS as a brief measure of quality of life (QOL) in applied settings is increasingly commonplace, including in rehabilitation assessment contexts. However, there are concerns about the validity of data produced by the measure, chief amongst which is the latent structure underlying scores. This article reports on research conducted to investigate the dimensionality of scores derived from the EUROHIS. In addition, the factorial invariance of the retained model across gender as well as latent mean differences in QOL over age, employment status, and psychiatric severity were examined. Based on 251 responses to the EUROHIS by compensable accident victims, support was found for a complex one-factor model, which was found to be partially replicable across gender. Some evidence for differential item functioning across gender, age, and employment status was found. Finally, a U-shaped effect of age on QOL, characterized by a mid-life nadir, as well as effects of psychiatric severity on QOL, and a marginally significant effect of employment status were evident. Collectively, though the results of the present study yield validation data for the EUROHIS, they also raise concerns about the measure. We offer some tentative guidelines for working with the measure for both researchers and practitioners.

Keywords

quality of lifeEUROHISrehabilitation assessmentvalidityfactors
Type
Articles
Information
The Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , December 2016 , pp. 57 - 75
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

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