Measurement equivalence of touch-screen computerized and paper-based diabetes-specific quality-of-life questionnaires.

Abstract

Current advances in technology have enabled the development of a computer-based

questionnaire that provides advantages over the paper-based mode of

administration, such as automatic data entry, storage and calculations. However,

before implementing a computer-based questionnaire, its equivalence with the

original paper-based questionnaire must first be demonstrated. The purpose of

this study was to evaluate the measurement equivalence of the computerized

Diabetes-Specific Quality-of-Life questionnaire (cD-QOL) with its original

paper-based counterpart. A two-period crossover design was used in this study.

The measurement equivalence was evaluated using quadratic weighted kappa

coefficients, intraclass correlations and Cronbach's alpha comparisons. The

cD-QOL was equivalent to its original paper-based counterpart. Participants

preferred the cD-QOL over the paper-based questionnaire and reported that it was

easy to use.