Psychometric properties of the awareness questionnaire, patient competency rating scale and Dysexecutive Questionnaire in patients with acquired brain injury

OBJECTIVE: Lack of self-awareness of impairments is common after acquired brain injury (ABI). We evaluated the psychometric properties of three commonly used instruments for measuring self-awareness: Awareness Questionnaire (AQ), Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS) and Dysexecutive questionnaire (DEX).

METHOD: We recruited 105 patients with ABI and their relatives. We determined feasibility, responsiveness, test- retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity of AQ, PCRS and DEX.

RESULTS: No floor or ceiling effects were present. Total scale scores showed sufficient responsiveness: effect sizes were moderate to large (.57-.85); test-retest reliability was sufficient for patient forms (.75- .88) but mixed for relative forms (.60-.66). Internal consistency was good (.80-.89). Construct validity results confirmed a three-factor structured AQ and a four-factor structured PCRS. A two-facture structure was found for DEX patient forms; a three-factor structure was found for relative forms.

CONCLUSION: Overall, the total scale scores of patient forms of all questionnaires demonstrated sufficient psychometric properties. Psychometric properties of subscales are questionable. We could not replicate the factor structures of AQ, PCRS and DEX: the items within subscales differed with previous findings. Additional research into the test-retest, inter-rater reliability and responsiveness of relative and clinician forms is required.