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Readability of self‐report clinical outcome measures
Author(s) -
Beckman Heidi T.,
Lueger Robert J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199712)53:8<785::aid-jclp1>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - readability , psychology , checklist , clinical psychology , scale (ratio) , outcome (game theory) , beck depression inventory , psychiatry , cognitive psychology , computer science , physics , mathematics , mathematical economics , quantum mechanics , programming language , anxiety
Because the validity of data obtained from self‐report clinical outcome measures depends upon the ability of the client to comprehend the inventories, readability was assessed for five frequently employed measures: Beck Depression Inventory, Integra Outpatient Tracking Assessment, MOS 36‐Item Short‐Form Health Survey, Social Adjustment Scale‐Self Report, and Symptoms Checklist‐90‐Revised. The Flesch Reading Ease (RE) formula and a Flesch abstraction formula were applied. The measures are generally shown to be useful for patients with an eighth or ninth grade education, suggesting that outcome researchers must choose only those measures appropriate to the educational background of their clients. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 53: 785–789, 1997