Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires

Great resource. A gold-standard for anyone in the field of health psychology

In an era of accountability, McDowell and Newell do an excellent job of pulling together instruments to assess patients' health. Although this volume was primary designed for Occupational and Physical Therapists, it should have a broader audience. It includes over 80 instruments with a summary on how to employ each device with estimates of reliability and validity. They give more than adequate details to enable the professional to make decisions regarding the quality and appropriateness of each single measure. Users of these tools need to comprehend the extreme lengths that it took for McDowell and Newell to accomplish their task. Their work is truly impressive. On pages 47-50, the authors do a particularly good job explaining the difference between ADL and IADL. In addition, the authors do a particularly good job in providing technical details needed by professionals to make decisions about the need and appropriateness of an instrument to serve the specific needs of a patient. Students who are learning about calibration of psychometric instruments will also find the work beneficial. They will immediately see the practical application of theoretical concepts presented in classroom decisions. I have placed this fine book on closed serve for students to use after my presentation on reliability and validity.Every university library should adopt a copy this is fine monograph.