Work and social adjustment scale its a five-item questionnaire completed by the patient, who rates himself on a scale of 0 to 8 on the following subjects: ability to work or study, home management, social leisure activities, private leisure activities, and close relationships (Pedersen, Kvarstein, & Wilberg, 2017). NRNP 6640 Week 2 Medical Outcome Survey WU

“Psychometrics” refers to “a field of inquiry concerned with the theory of measurement of abstract psychological constructs and the application of the theory in the development and testing of measures” (Polit & Beck, 2017, p. 741). The WSAS’s psychometric properties include “measurement invariance among males and females [and] longitudinal invariance” (Pedersen et al., 2017, p. 215). Longitudinal invariance refers to stability of the scores before and after a treatment intervention (Pedersen et al., 2017). Pedersen et al. confirm the tool’s unidimensionality, internal consistency of the five items measured, and test-retest stability (2017). Internal consistency refers to whether items on a scale are related and all measure the same attribute (Polit & Beck, 2017). Unidimensionality indicates that the scale measures only one thing (Polit & Beck, 2017).

Thandi, Fear, & Chandler say that the WSAS has been studied in various clinical populations, and that results indicate that improvement in symptoms depend on one unnamed factor (2017). Their own study measured the WSAS in patients with breast cancer, HIV, and inflammatory diseases (2017). They wanted to assess the unidimensionality of the WSAS in those conditions (Thandi et al., 2017). They confirmed the tool’s unidimensionality, as well as internal consistency (Thandi et al., 2017). While they conclude that the tool is useful, they doubt the tool’s validity because of differences between the two genders (Thandi et al., 2017).

The tool is sensitive to clinical change and can be used to evaluate treatment progress (Pedersen et al., 2017). Ermes, Vuorinen, Schrader, & Bidargaddi studied the effect that picking up one’s psychotropic medications from the pharmacy had on the person’s WSAS (2018). They found a link between regular refills and a higher WSAS (i.e., worse symptoms) (Ermes et al., 2018). They found that this confirmed the usefulness of their own method of measurement, because they expected people with chronic mental health problems to take medication regularly (Ermes et al., 2018). However, they only assessed patients once, after 36 months (Ermes et al., 2018).

References

Ermes, M., Vuorinen, A.-L., Schrader, G., & Bidargaddi, N. (2018). Correlation between symptoms and functioning in psychiatric patients and temporal patterns of medication refills derived from pharmacy prescription claims. Australasian Psychiatry, 26(6), 643–647

Pedersen, G., Kvarstein, E. H., & Wilberg, T. (2017). The Work and Social Adjustment Scale:

Psychometric properties and validity among males and females, and outpatients with and

without personality disorders. Personality & Mental Health, 11(4), 215–228.

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

 2017.A comparison of the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) across different patient populations using Rasch analysis and exploratory factor analysis.

STUDENT #2

Medical Outcome Survey

The medical outcome survey (MOS) is an integral element of the treatment and recovery process of patients engaged in psychotherapy and other evidence-based treatment approaches that can be used in clinical practice. Current studies emphasize the advantages of MOS in terms of its psychometric properties that include but are not limited to consistency, test-retest stability, validity, and reliability. As such, Khuong et al. (2018) conclude that the applicability of MOS with a focus on social support is based on the right internal consistency measured following Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Additionally, the authors point out test-retest stability and reliability as established based on a correlation with the Multidimensional scale for perceived social support and other assessment tools (Khuong et al. 2018). Moreover, construct validity and concurrent validity is also high across different stages of a study (Khuong et al., 2018). Therefore, these properties play a critical role in measuring a client’s response to treatment and support the use of MOS in psychotherapy.

Moreover, MOS is a beneficial instrument that gathers the necessary data to facilitate clinical judgment and conduct a proper psychiatric evaluation of patients undergoing therapy (American Psychiatric Association, 2016). For example, Olose et al. (2017) efficiently utilize MOS to measure the effects of antipsychotics (phenothiazines and others) on clients with schizophrenia and offer recommendations to improve the outcomes. MOS helps to investigate such an aspect as, for example, health-related quality of life before and after the use of medications. Additionally, MOS contributes to measuring a client’s response to, for example, methadone maintenance treatment (Khuong et al., 2018). However, this tool may not be specific enough when addressing insomnia and other states and cannot predict the main implications of interventions (Dunn et al., 2018). In such cases, additional specific tools (for instance, the PSQI and ISI) should assess a client. Overall, it is appropriate to implement MOS with clients who use psychopharmacologic medications to manage various conditions.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2016). Practice guidelines for the psychiatric evaluation of adults. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association. NRNP 6640 Week 2 Medical Outcome Survey WU

Dunn, K. M., Bhattarai, J., & Hughes, A. J. (2018). 1036 Insomnia and fatigue in multiple sclerosis: A subgroup meta-analysis comparing the PSQI, ISI, and MOS. Sleep, 41(1), .

Khuong, L. Q., Vu, T. T., Huynh, V. N., & Thai, T. T. (2018). Psychometric properties of the medical outcomes study: social support survey among methadone maintenance patients in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: A validation study. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 13(1), 8. .

Olose, E. O., Edet, J., Igwe, M. N., Chukwujekwu, D. C., Aguocha, M. C., & Uwakwe, R. (2017). Dyslipidaemia and medical outcome (health related quality of life) in patients with schizophrenia taking antipsychotics in Enugu, Nigeria. Psychiatry Journal, 2017, .