Measurement equivalence of touch‐screen computerized and paper‐based diabetes‐specific quality‐of‐life questionnaires

Current advances in technology have enabled the development of a computer‐based questionnaire that provides advantages over the paper‐based mode of administration, such as automatic data entry, storage and calculations. However, before implementing a computer‐based questionnaire, its equivalence with the original paper‐based questionnaire must first be demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the measurement equivalence of the computerized Diabetes‐Specific Quality‐of‐Life questionnaire (cD‐QOL) with its original paper‐based counterpart. A two‐period crossover design was used in this study. The measurement equivalence was evaluated using quadratic weighted kappa coefficients, intraclass correlations and Cronbach's alpha comparisons. The cD‐QOL was equivalent to its original paper‐based counterpart. Participants preferred the cD‐QOL over the paper‐based questionnaire and reported that it was easy to use.