Five items are sufficient to assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity by patient reported outcome measure: a computer adaptive test simulation study
Authors' conclusion
In the context of the simulations undertaken here, a CAT does not provide any major advantage for the purposes of administering the 12 RA DA items of the item pool in comparison to administering one item from each of the five domains, and administering one item from each of the five domains appears to be sufficient. We therefore propose the development of a brief, simple to administer, and psychometrically evidenced PROM for the assessment of RA DA.
Study context
- Population
- Item pool of 12 RA disease activity PROM items covering five domains: Tenderness and swelling, Disease activity, Pain, Stiffness, and Physical functioning
- Comparison
- Administering the 12 RA Disease Activity (DA) items via a computer adaptive test (CAT) vs administering one item from each of the five domains
- Outcome
- Number of items at which stopping rules were satisfied
Methodological detailsRasch measurement theory, stopping rules equivalent to Cronbach's α values of 0.70 and 0.85
- Rasch measurement theory
- Stopping rules equivalent to Cronbach's α values of 0.70 and 0.85
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- In both sets of initial simulations, stopping rules were most commonly satisfied after the administration of five items
- five items
Further findings
Domain coverage of the five items
- Five items only covered three domains, with the Disease activity domain consistently missed
Two generated sets of five items
- Summary measures (maximum and mean standard error) equivalent to the initial simulations
Original publication
Five items are sufficient to assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity by patient reported outcome measure: a computer adaptive test simulation study. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 29 October 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →