The COSMIN checklist for assessing the methodological quality of studies on measurement properties of health status measurement instruments: an international Delphi study

• Published in: Quality of life research 2010-05, Vol.19 (4), p.539-549
• Main Authors: Mokkink, Lidwine B., Terwee, Caroline B., Patrick, Donald L., Alonso, Jordi, Stratford, Paul W., Knol, Dirk L., Bouter, Lex M., de Vet, Henrica C. W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied statistics; Biostatistics; Clinical medicine; Construct validity; Delphi method; Delphi Technique; Epidemiology; Gold standard; Health; Health status; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Internationality; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Outcome Assessment, Health Care - methods; Patients; Psychometrics; PSYCHOSOMETRICS METHODS AND STATISTICS; Public Health; Quality of Life; Quality of Life Research; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Research Design; Research methodology; Research universities; Sample size; Sickness Impact Profile; Sociology; Statistics as Topic; Steering; Surveys and Questionnaires; Validity
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-010-9606-8

Background Aim of the COSMIN study (COnsensusbased Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments) was to develop a consensus-based checklist to evaluate the methodological quality of studies on measurement properties. We present the COSMIN checklist and the agreement of the panel on the items of the checklist. Methods A four-round Delphi study was performed with international experts (psychologists, epidemiologists, statisticians and clinicians). Of the 91 invited experts, 57 agreed to participate (63%). Panel members were asked to rate their (dis) agreement with each proposal on a five-point scale. Consensus was considered to be reached when at least 67% of the panel members indicated 'agree' or 'strongly agree'. Results Consensus was reached on the inclusion of the following measurement properties: internal consistency, reliability, measurement error, content validity (including face validity), construct validity (including structural validity, hypotheses testing and cross-cultural validity), criterion validity, responsiveness, and interpretability. The latter was not considered a measurement property. The panel also reached consensus on how these properties should be assessed. Conclusions The resulting COSMIN checklist could be useful when selecting a measurement instrument, peerreviewing a manuscript, designing or reporting a study on measurement properties, or for educational purposes.