Symptom measurement of post‐stroke depression at rehabilitation stage: Development and validation of a new short form

BACKGROUND: The Symptom Measurement of Post-Stroke Depression in the Rehabilitation Stage (SMPSD-RS) is a specialized measurement tool designed to detect early depressive symptoms in acute stroke patients, but it is too lengthy for use in busy clinical settings. This study aims to develop a shortened test version through statistical methods to reduce the assessment burden and validate its effectiveness. METHODS: During the three months from March 2024 to May 2024, 445 post-stroke patients completed two questionnaires: a demographic survey and the SMPSD-RS questionnaire. The item reduction process primarily involves item response theory (IRT), item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULT: The item reduction process results in a shortened 12-item questionnaire, demonstrating acceptable structural validity and internal reliability. Three factors are extracted, accounting for most of the total variance: "Cognition," "Sleep," and "Emotion." All estimates of the confirmatory model fit indices meet the standard criteria. The standardized factor loadings for the 12 items meet the standard criteria, and the variance explained by the items is acceptable. Additionally, the internal reliability estimates for the 12-item questionnaire are acceptable, with corrected item-total correlations and item-subscale correlations questionnaire supporting the short-form questionnaire's reliability. CONCLUSION: The Symptom Measurement of Post-Stroke Depression in the Rehabilitation Stage Short Form (SMPSD-RSSF) demonstrates acceptable reliability and validity for screening depressive symptoms in post-stroke rehabilitation patients Which is useful to be used in a busy clinical setting.