Validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the Care Transitions Measure

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Japanese Version of the Care Transitions Measure (J-CTM-15).

Design: Questionnaire items were translated, and a longitudinal study was conducted.

Setting: Three urban hospitals: a special functioning hospital, a regional-designated cancer care hospital, and a private hospital in the northern part of Japan.

Participants: Patients, aged 20 years and older, who were discharged from hospitals.

Main outcome measure: Reliability was measured using Cronbach α and item-total correlations. Convergent validity was measured using a Pearson correlation with the Self-Care Agency Questionnaire. Construct validity was examined by an exploratory factor analysis. Predictive validity was examined by the ability to discriminate negative post hospital experiences, including anxiety, problems at home, readmission, emergency visit, consultation via telephone, poor health condition without consultation, and by the correlation with the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12v2).

Results: A total of 223 and 158 participants were selected for data analyses. The Cronbach α was 0.90. The J-CTM-15 differed from the original factor model, but significantly correlated with Self-Care Agency Questionnaire and SF-12v2 scores. The J-CTM-15 also significantly discriminated between patients who did and did not display anxiety, problems at home, and poor health condition, but did not discriminate for readmission, emergency visits, and consultation via telephone.

Conclusion: The J-CTM-15 is a valid and reliable measure of the quality of care transitions. However, insufficient levels of predictive validity and a lack of generalizability are limitations of the current study.

Keywords: care transition; quality indicators; quality measurement; transitional care.