METHOD: Here we present a new case history instrument which is comprehensive in scope and can be answered by people with and without tinnitus alike. This 'European School for Interdisciplinary Tinnitus Research Screening Questionnaire' (ESIT-SQ) was developed with specific attention to questions about potential risk factors for tinnitus (including demographics, lifestyle, general medical and otological histories), and tinnitus characteristics (including perceptual characteristics, modulating factors, and associations with co-existing conditions). It was first developed in English, then translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Swedish, thus having broad applicability and supporting international collaboration.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychometric properties of the Malay version of SF-36 (Malay SF-36) summated rating scales and validate the scale among post-coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) patients at the National Heart Institute (IJN), Kuala Lumpur.

METHODS: Five hundred and nine post-CABG patients at the IJN, Malaysia completed the questionnaires between 1 July and 31 December 2017. Psychometric tests endorsed by the "International Quality of Life Assessment Project" were utilised.

RESULTS: The data quality was excellent with a high questionnaire completion rate (100%). As hypothesized, the ordering of item means within scales was clustered. In unison, scaling assumptions were satisfied. Good discriminant validity was shown between subsets of patients with various levels of health status. Notwithstanding, there were probably translation issues of the Physical Functioning scale which showed small ceiling effects. We clearly observed high ceiling and floor effects in both Role Physical and Role Emotional scale most probably attributed to the dichotomous style of their choice of responses. Cronbach alpha values of the eight scales ranged from 0.73 to 0.90, showing good internal consistency reliability. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed the 8-factor solution and Composite Reliability revealed internal consistency reliability except for Vitality and Social Functioning. Based on the Average Variance Extracted (AVE), convergent validity was adequate except for two domains. Discriminant Validity is good for the eight constructs as the √AVE are generally higher than the correlation coefficients between the latent constructs.

METHODS: We obtained the validity and reliability evidence for the SAS-M-SF using a group of 307 pre-university students in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia with a mean age of 18.4±0.2 years (70.4% female and 29.6% male). A questionnaire containing the Malay version of Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS-M), the Malay version of the short form Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS-M-SF), and the Malay version of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT-M) was administered on the adolescents.

RESULTS: The SAS-M-SF displayed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.80). Using principle component analysis, we identified a 4-factor SAS-M-SF model. A significant correlation between the SAS-M-SF and the IAT-M was found, lending support for concurrent validity. The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 54.5% based on cut-off score of ≥36 with a sensitivity of 70.2% and a specificity of 72.5%.

SETTING: Tertiary level teaching institution in Malaysia.

PARTICIPANTS: The validation process involved 211 adult patients (English language n=101, Malay language n=110) with chronic liver disease. Characteristics of the study subjects were as follows: mean (SD) age was 56 (12.8) years, 58.3% were male and 41.7% female. The inclusion criteria were patients 18 years or older with chronic hepatitis and/or liver cirrhosis of any aetiology. The exclusion criteria were as follows: presence of hepatic encephalopathy, ongoing treatment with interferon and presence of other chronic conditions that have an impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Cultural adaptation of the English version of the CLDQ was performed, and a Malay version was developed following standard forward-backward translation by independent native speakers. Psychometric properties of both versions were determined by assessing their internal consistency, test-retest reliability and discriminant and convergent validity.

RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency across the various domains of the CLDQ was 0.95 for the English version and 0.92 for the Malay version. Test-retest analysis showed excellent reliability with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.89 for the English version and 0.93 for the Malay version. The average scores of both the English and Malay versions of the CLDQ demonstrated adequate discriminant validity by differentiating between non-cirrhosis (English 6.3, Malay 6.1), compensated cirrhosis (English 5.6, Malay 6.0) and decompensated cirrhosis (English 5.1, Malay 4.9) (p<0.001). Convergent validity showed that correlation was fair between the English (ρ=0.59) and Malay (p=0.47) CLDQ versions with the EQ-5D, a generic HRQOL instrument.

PURPOSE: In this study, a framework comprising equivalence and cognition models was used to assess and finalize the Heart Quality-of-Life (HeartQoL)-Bahasa Malaysia (BM) questionnaire, which was derived from both forward-backward (FB) and dual-panel (DP) translation methods.

METHODS: Investigation and finalization of two initial versions of the questionnaire were conducted based on findings from an expert assessment (n = 3 sociolinguists blinded to translation methods) and cognitive interviews with purposively sampled patients (FB: n = 11; DP: n = 11). The equivalence model of Herdman et al. and the question-and-answer model of Collins were adapted to form a "cognition-and-equivalence" model to guide data collection and analysis through modified cognitive interviews. The final HeartQoL-BM was completed by 373 patients with ischemic heart disease from two medical centers, and the data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis to assess the evidence of equivalence.

RESULTS: Findings from the expert assessment and cognitive interview showed the existence of semantic and item equivalence on almost all of the FB and DP items, identified some subtle potential equivalence gaps, and guided the process of item finalization. Confirmatory factor analysis, including tests of factorial invariance on the final two-factor model of HeartQoL-BM, confirmed conceptual, item, measurement, and operational equivalence, which supports functional equivalence.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This cross-sectional study comprised 252 patients visiting HUSM. Patients were selected using the convenience sampling method. The PGQ (Bahasa Melayu version) had three main factors: during your visit; your care provider and overall assessment. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling.

FINDINGS: The exploratory factor analysis resulted in item reduction from 21 to 17, which contained four factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. Meanwhile, confirmatory factor analysis results showed that data fitted the model: χ2/df at 1.764, comparative fit index at 0.952, Tucker-Lewis index at 0.941 and root mean square error of approximation at 0.073. The average variance extracted value for the four factors was greater than 0.50, which indicated that PGQ convergent validity was met. Overall, PGQ produced good reliability with composite reliability score equals to 0.966. Four factors were reclassified as "during your registration," "hospital staff attitude," "doctor's attitude" and "overall assessment."

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Patient satisfaction is an important and frequently used indicator for measuring healthcare quality; hence, a validated and reliable instrument is important for measuring patient satisfaction that leads to healthcare service quality assessment.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Validated PGQ provides some useful information for doctors, medical assistants, nurses and staff in the emergency department to help them become more prominent and efficient in their role as healthcare providers.

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Validated PGQ will help healthcare providers to deliver the best and exceptional care toward emergency patient, and thus improve their quality of work life. The findings in this study can be used as a guide or as baseline data for further research in this area.

METHODS: The published English version of PIDAQ was pilot tested on 12- to 17-year-old adolescents, resulting in a few modifications to suit the Malaysian variety of English. Psychometric properties were tested on 393 adolescents who attended orthodontic practices and selected schools. Malocclusion was assessed using the Malocclusion Index, an aggregation of Perception of Occlusion Scale and the Aesthetic Component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need, by the subjects (MI-S) and investigators (MI-D). Data were analysed for internal consistency and age-associated invariance, discriminant, construct and criterion validities, reproducibility and floor and ceiling effects using AMOS v.20 and SPSS v.20.

RESULTS: The item Don't like own teeth on video of the Aesthetic Concern (AC) subscale was not relevant to a large proportion of participants (11.7%). Therefore, it was removed and the Malaysian English PIDAQ was analysed based on 22 items instead of 23 items. Confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit statistics (comparative fit index: 0.902, root-mean-square error of approximation: 0.066). Internal consistency was good for the Dental Self-Confidence, Social Impact and Psychological Impact subscales (Cronbach's alpha: 0.70-0.95) but lower (0.52-0.62) though acceptable for the AC subscale as it consisted of only 2 items. The reproducibility test was acceptable (intra-class correlations: 0.53-0.78). For all PIDAQ subscales, the MI-S and MI-D scores of those with severe malocclusion differed significantly from those with no or slight malocclusion. There were significant associations between the PIDAQ subscales with ranking of perceived dental appearance, need for braces and impact of malocclusion on daily activities. There were no floor or ceiling effects.

METHODS: The Brunei Malay EQ-5D-5L was developed by culturally adapting two existing Malay versions. A total of 154 Bruneians with T2DM completed the questionnaire in two different points of time with one week apart. Known-groups validity of the utility-based EQ-5D-5L index and visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) was evaluated by comparing subgroups of patients known to differ in health status. Test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) or Cohen's kappa.

RESULTS: As hypothesized, patients known to have 'better' health had higher EQ-5D-5L index scores than those having 'worse' health in all 7 known-groups comparisons. The hypothesized difference in the EQ-VAS scores was observed in only 4 of the 7 known-groups comparisons. Kappa values ranged from 0.206 to 0.446 for the EQ-5D-5L items; the ICC value for the EQ-5D-5L index and EQ-VAS was 0.626 and 0.521, respectively.