Development and initial validation of Perceived Rehabilitation Needs Questionnaire for people with schizophrenia

• Published in: Quality of life research Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 447 - 456
• Main Authors: Wong, Alvin H. H., Tsang, Hector W. H., Li, Sally M. Y., Fung, Kelvin M. T., Chung, Raymond C. K., Leung, Ada Y., Yiu, Michael G. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01-04-2011; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Caregivers; Clinical outcomes; Demography; Factor analysis; Female; Focus Groups; Hong Kong; Humans; INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION; Male; Medical personnel; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mental health care; Mental illness; Middle Aged; Needs analysis; Needs Assessment; Psychosocial rehabilitation; Public Health; Quality of Life Research; Questionnaires; Rehabilitation; Research methodology; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - rehabilitation; Sociology; Stress management skills; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Young Adult; Hong Kong; Validation; Schizophrenia; Development; Needs assessment
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-010-9767-5

Purpose The Perceived Rehabilitation Needs Questionnaires for people with schizophrenia (PRNQ-S), a culturally relevant and multi-faceted assessment tool for measuring perceived needs of people with schizophrenia, was developed and initially validated. Methods A total of 43 participants including people with schizophrenia, their caregivers, and mental health professionals were recruited for six rounds of focus group discussion to identify issues pertaining to rehabilitation needs of schizophrenia. Results were then used to develop PRNQ-S. An initial validation study among a convenience sample consisting of 219 people with schizophrenia was conducted to examine its psychometric properties. Results Exploratory Factor Analysis yielded a seventeenfactor solution accounting for 70.7% of the total variance which resulted in a 75-item PRNQ-S. The instrument had excellent internal consistencies and intra-rater reliability. Conclusions The PRNQ-S has been developed and psychometrically tested in Hong Kong. It can be used to assess perceived rehabilitation needs for individuals with schizophrenia in Hong Kong. Upon further validations, it may be applied in other Chinese societies such as Singapore and the mainland. Similar research methodology can also be used for assessing needs in other types of psychiatric disability groups.