Table 3.

Criteria for evaluating the quality of the psychometric properties

Measurement property	Rating*	Criteria
Reliability	+	Intraclass correlation coefficient or weighted Kappa ≥ 0.70
	?	Intraclass correlation coefficient or weighted Kappa not reported
	−	Intraclass correlation coefficient or weighted Kappa < 0.70
Measurement error	+	Smallest detectable change or limits of agreement < minimal important change†
	?	Minimal important change not defined
	−	Smallest detectable change or limits of agreement > minimal important change†
Hypotheses testing for	+	The results are in accordance with the hypothesis‡
construct validity	?	Hypothesis is not defined (by the review committee)
	−	The result is not in agreement with the hypothesis‡
Criterion validity	+	Correlation with gold/reference standard ≥ 0.70 or area under the curve ≥ 0.70
	?	Not all information for ‘+’ reported
	−	Correlation with gold/reference standard < 0.70 or area under the curve < 0.70
Responsiveness	+	The results are in agreement with the hypothesis‡ or area under the curve ≥ 0.70
	?	Hypothesis is not defined (by the review committee)
	−	The result is not in agreement with the hypothesis‡ or area under the curve < 0.70

The criteria list has been adapted from Prinsen et al.⁵³

*Rating: ‘+’=sufficient, ‘?’=indeterminate, ‘– ‘=insufficient.

†This rating of evidence may be obtained from different studies.

‡The findings of all studies must be complied together and then it must be decided if 75% of the findings are in agreement with the hypotheses.