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Measuring mental health outcomes in primary care: The psychometric properties of a new patient-generated outcome measure, 'PSYCHLOPS' ('psychological outcome profiles')

Abstract:

Background: Patient-generated outcome measures are rarely used in evaluating talking therapies in primary care but in other contexts they show high sensitivity to change. We have devised a novel patient-generated measure called 'PSYCHLOPS' ('Psychological Outcome Profiles'). This paper describes the psychometric properties of PSYCHLOPS. Method: Standardised responses to PSYCHLOPS, pre- and post-therapy, were compared with responses to an established measure, CORE-OM. Results: Data were obtained from 110 patients. The effect size, a measure of sensitivity to change, was -1.53 for PSYCHLOPS and -1.06 for CORE-OM (t = 5.10, P < 0.001). Pre-therapy alpha scores were 0.79 and 0.94, respectively. Change scores of both instruments correlated strongly (Spearman's rho = 0.61; P < 0.001). Detailed validity testing is reported. Conclusion: PSYCHLOPS is a sensitive measure of change after therapy. Alpha scores suggest satisfactory internal reliability. Evidence of convergent, concurrent and construct validity has been obtained. Further work is required to establish test-retest reliability. © 2005 Radcliffe Publishing.