Development of computer adaptive testing for measuring depression in patients with cancer

Ken Kurisu; Masayuki Hashimoto; Tetsuro Ishizawa; Osamu Shibayama; Shuji Inada; Daisuke Fujisawa; Hironobu Inoguchi; Haruki Shimoda; Shinichiro Inoue; Asao Ogawa; Tatsuo Akechi; Ken Shimizu; Yosuke Uchitomi; Yutaka Matsuyama; Kazuhiro Yoshiuchi

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-12318-x

Development of computer adaptive testing for measuring depression in patients with cancer

Sci Rep. 2022 May 17;12(1):8247. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12318-x.

Authors

Ken Kurisu¹, Masayuki Hashimoto², Tetsuro Ishizawa¹, Osamu Shibayama^{1

3}, Shuji Inada^{1

4}, Daisuke Fujisawa^{5

6}, Hironobu Inoguchi⁷, Haruki Shimoda^{8

9}, Shinichiro Inoue¹⁰, Asao Ogawa⁶, Tatsuo Akechi^{11

12}, Ken Shimizu¹³, Yosuke Uchitomi¹⁴, Yutaka Matsuyama¹⁵, Kazuhiro Yoshiuchi¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Stress Sciences and Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan.
² Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sunagawa City Medical Center, Sunagawa, Hokkaido, Japan.
³ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Yokohama Rosai Hospital, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
⁴ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Kindai University Hospital, Osakasayama, Osaka, Japan.
⁵ Department of Neuropsychiatry and Palliative Care Center, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Psycho-Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.
⁷ Department of Psycho-Oncology, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan.
⁸ Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan.
⁹ Department of Mental Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
¹¹ Center for Psycho-Oncology and Palliative Care, Nagoya City University Hospital, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
¹² Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
¹³ Department of Psycho-Oncology, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Innovation Center for Supportive, Palliative and Psychosocial Care, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁵ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁶ Department of Stress Sciences and Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan. kyoshiuc-tky@umin.ac.jp.

Abstract

The usefulness of depression scales for patients with cancer based on item response theory (IRT) and computer adaptive testing (CAT) has not yet been fully explored. This study thus aimed to develop an IRT-based tool for measuring depression in patients with cancer. We analyzed data from 393 patients with cancer from four tertiary centers in Japan who had not received psychiatric treatment. They answered 62 questions across five categories regarding their psychiatric status over the previous week. We selected 28 items that satisfied the assumptions of IRT, fitted a graded response model to these items, and performed CAT simulations. The CAT simulation used an average of 6.96 items and showed a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.916 (95% confidence interval, 0.899-0.931) between the degree of depression estimated by simulation and that estimated using all 28 items. The measurement precision of CAT with only four items was superior to that of the estimation using the calibrated Patient Health Questionnaire-9. These results imply that this scale is useful and accurate for measuring depression in patients with cancer.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Computers
Depression* / diagnosis
Humans
Neoplasms* / complications
Patient Health Questionnaire
Personal Satisfaction
Psychometrics / methods
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires