Towards a composite scoring solution for the Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory

Qual Life Res. 1999;8(1-2):17-24. doi: 10.1023/a:1026411129270.

Abstract

Little research has been conducted towards the development and evaluation of a measure of quality of life specific to head/brain injury populations. Accordingly, we examined responses to the Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory in the context of a clinical trial for head injury patients (n = 655) conducted in 14 countries. To reduce the 66 item scale into a smaller number of composite scales, principal components analysis was conducted. Scales were constructed assessing four categories of symptoms: cognitive deficits, depression, aggression and somatization. The internal reliabilities (alpha coefficient) of the four scales were generally acceptable (range = 0.79-0.92). Scores on all four scales correlated significantly with patient-rated overall quality of life and all but the aggression scale correlated significantly with overall clinical severity. The need for more formal evaluation of this and other disease-specific measures is discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living
  • Adult
  • Aggression / psychology
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Craniocerebral Trauma / physiopathology
  • Craniocerebral Trauma / psychology*
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • Health Status*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Health
  • Neuropsychological Tests / standards*
  • Quality of Life*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*