Comparing questionnaires across cultures: Using Mokken scaling to compare the Italian and English versions of the MOLES index.
Giuseppe Aleo, Annamaria Bagnasco, Roger Watson and 7 others
PMID 31367427WHAT IT FOUND
A skin self-examination motivation questionnaire did not measure the same things in Italian and English respondents.
Only one question was shared, so the two versions should not be combined or treated as interchangeable.
Key findings
01The Italian and UK versions each retained seven items as a scale, but only one item was common.
02The Italian seven-item scale was reliable and moderate, while the UK seven-item scale was reliable but weak.
03Total scores were not significantly different between the Italian and UK samples.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience group: Italian respondents were first-year nursing students and people they invited, and the UK respondents came from earlier data collection. Fewer than 50% of the MOLES items formed a scale, so many questions were not retained and some constructs may be missing. The authors noted the sample sizes were relatively small for Mokken scaling. The study did not compare MOLES scores with actual skin self-examination behaviour. The Italian and UK versions were not similar enough to combine, because only one item was common.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the similar total scores as proof that the Italian and English versions measure the same motivation. The question sets differed, with only one common item, and the study did not link scores to actual skin self-examination.