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Revision of the ICIDH Severity of Disabilities Scale by data linking and item response theory
Author(s) -
van Buuren S.,
HopmanRock M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
statistics in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.996
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1097-0258
pISSN - 0277-6715
DOI - 10.1002/sim.723
Subject(s) - item response theory , scale (ratio) , computer science , set (abstract data type) , econometrics , data set , cognitive psychology , psychology , statistics , artificial intelligence , psychometrics , mathematics , clinical psychology , cartography , programming language , geography
The Severity of Disabilities Scale (SDS) of the ICIDH reflects the degree to which an individual's ability to perform a certain activity is restricted. This paper describes the application of two models from item response theory (IRT), the graded response model and the partial credit model, in order to derive a tentative proposal for a revised SDS. The key ingredient of the approach is to scale existing disability items obtained in different studies on a common scale by exploiting the overlap. Both IRT models are fitted to a linked data set containing items for measuring walking disability. Based on these solutions, a tentative SDS is constructed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications, limitations and advantages of the approach. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.