Promising
Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.

Testing for intersectional measurement invariance with the alignment method: Evaluation of the 8-item patient health questionnaire

Cintron, D.W., Matthay, E.C., and McCoach, D.B.

Release Date:

Peer Review Study

Data Collection and Analysis
Healthcare Access and Quality
Social and Community Context
Tools Included
Outside U.S.
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Data Collection and Reporting

To make sure we’re accurately understanding people’s health, we need to use the same measuring tools in the same way for everyone, no matter who they are. In this study, Cintron and their team checked if a widely used depression test, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), works the same for different groups of people based on their age, gender, education, and race. They found that in about 24% of the cases, the test worked a little differently for these different groups. However, this is just slightly below the 25% limit we usually use to decide if the test is working the same for everyone. So, in general, the PHQ-8 seems to measure depression in a similar way for all the groups they studied. To make sure we’re treating everyone fairly when collecting health data, we should do similar research for other common tests and questionnaires to see if they work the same for different groups of people.

Resource Details

Outcomes of Interest

Improve Data Infrastructure

Priority Population(s)

Setting(s) of Implementation

Clinical

Geographic Area of Implementation

Implementation Period

2023