BACKGROUND: Self-rating instruments which require a large number of repeated assessments over time are increasingly popular in psychiatry. They are well suited to describing variations in mental states, especially in order to investigate effects of behaviour and events on functioning and mood. For @entity162 , the self-rating instrument 'NIMH daily life chart' was developed to assess the course of the illness. This instrument has been validated in the customary ways, yet information about data quality (e.g. completeness, consistency, construct validity, reactivity) was lacking. The goal of this study was to develop several data quality indicators computed from data, in order to be able to detect respondents that provide less valid or reliable data. METHODS: During approximately 1  year on average, 137 @entity1 with DSM-IV diagnosed @entity162 rated their mood, functioning and number of @entity285 units consumed on a daily basis. Three kinds of quality indicators were developed: (1) compliance (i.e. completeness of recording on a daily basis), (2) the association between conceptually related variables-construct validity-and (3) reactivity: any changes in @entity285 -drinking behaviour due to the assessments themselves. Relations were measured with Spearman's rho. RESULTS: A relation was found between data quality and illness severity: respondents with lower data quality, according to our operationalisations, were more strongly affected by the illness, as expressed in the number of ill days, than respondents with higher data quality. CONCLUSION: The more affected @entity1 are by the illness, the lower the data quality to be expected in life chart reports.

Data quality indicators for daily life chart methodology: prospective self-ratings of @entity162 and XXXX use.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity162 :: ('MESH:D001714', 'Disease') :: ['bipolar disorder'] @entity285 :: ('D000431', 'Chemical') :: ['alcohol']
@entity285 :: (D000431,Chemical) :: ['alcohol']
