OVERVIEW TO THE TWO-PART SERIES: MEASUREMENT EQUIVALENCE OF THE PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES MEASUREMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM® (PROMIS®) SHORT-FORMS

Abstract

Measurement equivalence across differing socio-demographic groups is essential for valid assessment.   This is one of two issues of Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling that contains articles describing methods and substantive findings related to establishing measurement equivalence in self-reported health, mental health and social functioning measures. 

The articles in this two part series describe analyses of items assessing eight domains:  fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep, pain, physical function, cognitive concerns and social function.  Additionally, two overview articles describe the methods and sample characteristics of the data set used in these analyses. An additional article describes the important topic of assessing magnitude and impact of differential item functioning.  These articles provide the first strong evidence supporting the measurement equivalence of The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) short-form measures in ethnically, socio-demographically diverse groups, and is a beginning step in meeting the international call for further study of their performance in such groups.