Application of Rasch analysis in the development and application of quality of life instruments

This paper discusses recent advances that have been made in the field of psychometrics, specifically, the application of Rasch analysis to the instrument development process. It emphasizes the importance of assessing the fundamental scaling properties of an instrument prior to consideration of traditional psychometric indicators. The paper introduces Rasch analysis and shows how it has been applied in the development of needs-based measures in order to ensure that they provide unidimensional measurement. By ensuring that scales are based on the same measurement model and that they fit the Rasch model it is possible for QoL scores to be compared across diseases by means of cocalibration and item banking.