Reliability and validity of the FORUM-P and FORUM-C: two novel instruments for outcome measurement in forensic mental health

We conducted a series of tests on the FORensic oUtcome Measure (FORUM), a novel tool for measuring outcomes in forensic mental health services, which consists of complementary patient-reported (FORUM-P) and clinician-reported instruments (FORUM-C). Inpatients and outpatients at a UK forensic psychia...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ryland, Howard (Author) ; Cook, Jonathan (Author) ; Ciobanasu, Oana (Author) ; Oluwabamise, Oluwasegun (Author) ; Cornish, Robert (Author) ; Al-Taiar, Hasanen (Author) ; Chris-Okoro, Eberechi (Author) ; Hoggart, Catherine (Author) ; Vallakalil, Alex (Author) ; Fitzpatrick, Ray (Author) ; Fazel, Seena (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
In: Psychology, crime & law
Year: 2024, Volume: 30, Issue: 2, Pages: 150-165
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
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Keywords:
Forensic psychiatry
Psychometrics
Quality of life
Outcome measures
Description
Summary:We conducted a series of tests on the FORensic oUtcome Measure (FORUM), a novel tool for measuring outcomes in forensic mental health services, which consists of complementary patient-reported (FORUM-P) and clinician-reported instruments (FORUM-C). Inpatients and outpatients at a UK forensic psychiatric regional service completed the FORUM-P and members of their clinical teams completed the FORUM-C. Patients and clinicians also provided qualitative feedback on the instruments. We assessed test-retest and inter-rater reliability in standard ways. Sixty-two patients participated with a mean age of 41.0 years (standard deviation 11.3). Thirty-five clinicians provided information about these patients. For internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha for FORUM-P was 0.87 (95% confidence interval 0.80–0.93) and for FORUM-C was 0.93 (95% confidence interval 0.91–0.96). For test-retest reliability, weighted kappa for FORUM-P was 0.44 (95% confidence interval 0.24–0.63) and for FORUM-C was 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.73–0.85). For inter-rater reliability, Spearman correlation coefficient for overall FORUM-C score between the first rating by clinician 1 and clinician 2 was 0.47 (95% confidence interval 0.18–0.69). For comprehensiveness, comprehensibility, and relevance FORUM-P and FORUM-C were both rated as good. FORUM-P and FORUM-C provide a novel, robust set of complementary instruments with promising psychometric properties for monitoring outcomes in forensic mental health.
ISSN:1477-2744
DOI:10.1080/1068316X.2022.2076855