Yes / Objectives: Listening-related fatigue can be a significant problem for adults who struggle to hear and understand, particularly adults with hearing loss. However, valid, sensitive, and clinically useful measures for listening-related fatigue do not currently exist. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a brief clinical tool for measuring listening-related fatigue in adults. Design: The clinical scale was derived from the 40-item version of the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scale for Adults (VFS-A-40), an existing, reliable, and valid research tool for measuring listening9 related fatigue. The study consisted of two phases. Phase 1 (N = 580) and Phase 2 (N = 607) participants consisted of convenience samples of adults recruited via online advertisements, clinical records review, and a pool of prior research participants. In Phase 1, results from item response theory (IRT) analyses of VFS-A-40 items were used to identify high quality items for the brief (10-item) clinical scale: the VFS-A-10. In Phase 2, the characteristics and quality of the VFS-A-10 were evaluated in a separate sample of respondents. Dimensionality was evaluated using exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and item quality and characteristics were evaluated using IRT. VFS-A-10 reliability and validity were assessed multiple ways. IRT reliability analysis was used to examine VFS-A-10 measurement fidelity. In addition, test-retest reliability was assessed in a subset of Phase 2 participants (n = 145) who completed the VFS-A-10 a second time approximately one month after their initial measure (range 5-90 days). IRT differential item functioning (DIF) was used to assess item bias across different age, gender, and hearing loss subgroups. Convergent construct validity was evaluated by comparing VFS-A-10 responses to two other generic fatigue scales and a measure of hearing disability. Known-groups validity was assessed by comparing VFS-A-10 scores between adults with and without self reported hearing loss Results: EFA suggested a unidimensional structure for the VFS-A-10. IRT analyses confirmed all test items were high quality. IRT reliability analysis revealed good measurement fidelity over a wide range of fatigue severities. Test-retest reliability was excellent (rs = .88, collapsed across participants). IRT DIF analyses confirmed the VFS-A-10 provided a valid measure of listening29 related fatigue regardless of respondent age, gender, or hearing status. An examination of associations between VFS-A-10 scores and generic fatigue/vigor measures revealed only weak31 to-moderate correlations (Spearman’s correlation coefficient rs = -.36 to .57). Stronger associations were seen between VFS-A-10 scores and a measure of perceived hearing difficulties (rs = .79 to .81) providing evidence of convergent construct validity. In addition, the VFS-A-10 was more sensitive to fatigue associated with self-reported hearing difficulties than generic measures. It was also more sensitive than generic measures to variations in fatigue as a function of degree of hearing impairment. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the VFS-A-10 is a reliable, valid, and sensitive tool for measuring listening-related fatigue in adults. Its brevity, high sensitivity, and good reliability make it appropriate for clinical use. The scale will be useful for identifying those most affected by listening-related fatigue and for assessing benefits of interventions designed to reduce its negative effects. / Starkey Inc, NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Grant #R21DC012865, NICHD Grant P30HD15052 to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research grant (UL1 TR000445 from NCATS/NIH) / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 1 Sep 2024.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:29:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renato Marchi.pdf: 1336693 bytes, checksum: bcdd5e2f052a29bb390cf3fc87b8af07 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-12 / Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with ps ychosocial and family relationships disturbing, mortality and economic burden high rates . The treatment aims the acute episodes and prevents new episodes. There are high rates of non-adherence in BD. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a clinical rating scale capable to predict the patient compliance to treatment in BD in both gend ers. The procedure involved the search in pertinent scientific literature for reports of factors of non-adherence of bipolar patients, analysis of patients during pilot studies and contact with professionals who deal with those patients in order to develop a comprehensive list of possible symptoms. This procedure was followed by items' selection and testing of the preliminary form of the clinical rating scale. The scale was analyzed statistically. Reliability study showed a high level of internal consistency. Factor analysis revealed five factors related to the clinical treatment: behaviors and beliefs of the patient, therapeutic alliance, therapeutic procedures, association of psychotherapy interventions and adverse effects of drug therapy. Predictive validation showed that items' factors were able to measure the non - adherence to treatment. It was concluded that the Clinical Rating Scale to Predict the Compliance to Treatment in Bipolar Disorder can be considered a valid instrument to predict the patient compliance to medical treatment . / O Transtorno Bipolar do Humor (TBH) est? associado a altas taxas de desajustes psicossociais e familiares, mortalidade e preju?zos econ?micos. O tratamento visa o controle de epis?dios agudos e preven??o de novos epis?dios. As taxas de n?o - ades?o ao tratamento s?o altas em TBH. Este trabalho teve por objetivo elaborar e validar uma escala de avalia??o clinica , capaz de indicar a probabilidade de ades?o ao tratamento medico clinico dos pacientes bipolares de ambos os g?neros. O procedimento foi constitu?do de levantamento dos fatores ligados a n?o-ades?o ao tratamento em TBH na literatura pertinente, analise de pacientes bipolares durante estudo piloto, analise por juizes, sele??o dos itens e aplica??o da escala em sua fase inicial, para subseq?ente an?lise psicom?trica. A analise de precis?o do instrumento evidenciou n?vel satisfat?rio de consist?ncia interna. Extra?ram-se cinco fatores de acordo com a analise fatorial explorat?ria, ligados ao tratamento medico clinico: atitudes e cren?as do paciente, alian?a terap?utica, procedimentos terap?uticos, associa??o de interven??es psicoter?picas e efeitos adversos dos psicof?rmacos. A valida??o preditiva revelou que os itens referentes a tais fatores medem a n?o-ades?o ao tratamento. Conclui -se que a ECPAT-TBH pode ser considerada um instrumento v?lido para prever a ades?o ao tratamento m?dico.