Measuring patients' judgements on the quality of long-term Korsakoff care they receive: the development of the Korsakoff Consumer Quality Index (KCQI).

BACKGROUND

Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder resulting from chronic alcoholism and thiamine deficiency, characterized by severe anterograde amnesia and central executive deficits. Patients with KS require specialized long-term care due to the complex interaction of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and somatic issues. Despite the unique needs of KS patients, there is a lack of standardized instruments to assess their perspectives on the quality of care.

AIM: This paper presents the development of the Korsakoff Consumer Quality Index (KCQI), a self-report screening instrument for client satisfaction in long-term KS care.

METHODS

To establish the psychometric properties of the KCQI, two studies were conducted to assess its reliability and validity. In the first study psychometric properties of the KCQI were investigated by means of a reliability assessment and an exploratory factor analysis in 75 long-term inpatients diagnosed with KS. In the second study, a confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to establish the factor structure of the instrument in a new group of 92 KS patients.

RESULTS

The resulting 14-item KCQI had a factor structure with three factors: 'Autonomy and Connectedness', 'Influence on Care' and 'Activity Level'. Model fit was sufficient, with a good reliability.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that the KCQI is an internally valid and reliable instrument that can be interpreted using a three-factor structure, and contribute to the understanding of KS patient perspectives on care quality.