We used both quantitative and qualitative methods to develop, refine, assess, and pilot the PPIQ with stakeholders involved in Canadian formulary recommendation processes (Fig. 1). Consistent with the principles of the process, we included the perspectives of committee members, patient group representatives, public drug plan employees and academic experts (national/international) in patient and public involvement in healthcare.
Conceptual Approach
The development for the PPIQ builds upon previous work by authors ZRY and AMB who developed nine criteria to evaluate patient and the public involvement in health care resource allocation decision making (10). In this work, authors ZRY and AMB conducted a literature review of studies describing the development or evaluation of questionnaires to measure public or patient involvement in public decision making (including non-health related fields). Additionally, the authors conducted key informant interviews with representatives of patient groups, past or present government employees, representatives from Canadian provincial Ministries of Health, advisory committee members and industry personnel. These nine criteria, outlined in Table 1, guided the refinement and organization of PPIQ throughout development.
Table 1
Nine Evaluation Criteria of Public and Patient Involvement (10).
Evaluation Criteria
|
Description
|
Clarity Regarding Rationale and Roles of Patient and Public Members
|
The purposes of patient and public involvement should be clearly defined. This criterion may define whether a member’s role is to represent the broader public view, the patient view, or both. Furthermore, rationale may define whether the objective of involvement is to consult with external patient advocacy groups or to actively partner with them in making decisions.
|
Adequate Representation of Relevant Views
|
A full range of perspectives should be represented. This criterion may assess whether patient and public members are sufficiently representative of their constituencies and whether patient advocacy group submissions that are received from several groups adequately represent diversity.
|
Fair Decision-Making Processes
|
The processes and procedures used by the committee should ensure fairness in decision making from the perspective of patient and public representatives.
|
Sufficient Support
|
Patient and public representatives should have sufficient support to fulfill their responsibilities.
|
Legitimacy of Committee Processes
|
Committees’ processes should be accountable and transparent. This criterion may assess whether participants understand how decisions are made and whether stakeholders are able to appeal decisions
|
Adequate Opportunity for Participation
|
Committees should have processes that allow public and patient representatives the opportunity to participate fully in discussions and to address power differentials.
|
Meaningful Degree of Participation
|
Committee deliberations should include meaningful patient and public participation. This criterion may assess the level of participation of public and patient members in decisions and the number and quality of patient advocacy group submissions.
|
Noticeable Effect on Decisions
|
Public and patient involvement should materially influence committees’ recommendations. This criterion may assess how many decisions would have led to different conclusions had patient or public involvement not been present
|
Considerations of Efficiency
|
Committees should have sufficient resources to ensure effective participation, which should be used efficiently. This criterion may assess the time and money needed to make recommendations and the value obtained relative to the resources expended.
|
Phase 1: Item Generation And Reduction
1.
1.1 Item Bank. The literature review and key informant interviews (methods described in detail: Rosenberg-Yunger & Bayoumi, 2017) were used in the current work to inform the first phase of development for the PPIQ. The interviews and literature review provided a dataset that we used to develop items. We coded the dataset in an inductive line-by-line manner. We considered each code individually to develop the preliminary list of items (i.e, the item bank). Two members of the research team (ZRY and LV) reviewed the item bank to reduce the number of redundant items, identify missing items, and ensure items adequately addressed the purposes of evaluating patient and public involvement based on the nine criteria of public and patient involvement.
2.
1.2 User Feedback (Focus Group). We conducted one in-person focus group discussion with Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) staff, representatives from patient groups, members of drug advisory committees, government employees, and industry personnel to capture stakeholder feedback on the PPIQ (Version 1). We identified informants from websites listing drug advisory committee members, and suggestions by staff in Ministries of Health. Written informed consent was received from all participants either in person or electronically.
Focus group participants were asked to review the draft PPIQ (Version 1) eliminate redundant items, add missing items, and ensure each of the nine criteria of public and patient involvement was adequately captured in the questionnaire. Additionally, we asked participants to assess ambiguity and to check for double-barreled items. Conflicting views on which items to retain or delete were addressed at this stage by retaining these items. The final decision to retain or delete items was made after the focus group data was analyzed. The focus group discussion was audio-recorded and transcribed. Two team members (ZRY and LV) analyzed the focus group transcript independently using a qualitative thematic approach resulting in suggestions to add, retain or remove items from the PPIQ. Any discrepancies in coding were discussed and resolved through consensus. We revised items based on recommendations from the focus group to result in a refined PPIQ (Version 2).
1.3 User Feedback (Online Survey). A second group of participants, similar to the first group, provided feedback on the PPIQ (Version 2) by answering questions about questionnaire refinement (including item generation and reduction) in an online survey using Opinio (Copyright 1998–2019 ObjectPlanet). Participants were also asked to provide electronic feedback by reviewing items within the PPIQ as a Microsoft Word document, which was emailed to each participant. Participants were asked to make comments and track changes throughout the PPIQ Word document. Two team members (ZRY and LV) coded the open-ended survey responses and discussed and resolved any discrepancies in coding through consensus. The comments and track changes by each participant helped inform further refinement of the PPIQ not captured in the survey responses. We revised the PPIQ based on the online surveys and electronic feedback to create PPIQ (Version 3).
Phase 2: Sensibility Testing
2.1 Sensibility Questionnaire. A total of 115 emails were sent out, of which 99 were delivered to stakeholders (35 committee members, 24 patient groups representatives and 40 academic experts) requesting their participation in the sensibility testing and 21 participated. The average age of participants was 50.9 years (standard deviation ± 12.3), and the majority identified as male (n = 13, 62%). Six of the participants were members of drug reimbursement committees, of whom five were professional members and one was a public member. Eight participants were patient group representatives, and four were academic experts in the field of patient and public engagement. Three participants remained anonymous.
Twenty-one participants reviewed the PPIQ and completed the sensibility questionnaire. The five analyzed categories, including purpose and framework, overt format, face validity, content validity, and ease of use, were reflected by 9 items in the sensibility questionnaire. Table 3 provides a summary of responses by all participants and also by the different categories of participants. The median scores on the sensibility questionnaire were ≥ 5 (out of 7) for all 9 items (100%) reaching our criteria for sensibility. Three participants were anonymous and did not provide their role on committees. Only one public member completed the sensibility testing. Overall, the item with the lowest score (5 out of 7) was the participants’ perception of the time to complete the PPIQ (Table 4).
Table 2
Feinstein’s Sensibility Framework (12)
Criterion
|
Definition
|
Purpose and framework
|
Considers issues pertaining to function as well as applicability of the questionnaire. Examples include: what is the purpose of the questionnaire?
|
Overt format
|
Considers issues pertaining to the manner in which the questionnaire is presented.
|
Face validity
|
Determines whether items are consistent with the purpose of the questionnaire, assesses if items are clear, directed at the correct person and if overall the questionnaire is reasoned
|
Content validity
|
Considers the selection of items including missing item, and inclusion of unsuitable items, as well as, appropriateness of response options.
|
Ease of use
|
Considers the ease of administration and use of the questionnaire from the users and researchers’ perspectives.
|
Table 4
Summary of responses for sensibility questionnaire (n = 21 participants)
Sensibility Questions
|
Sensibility Framework Criteria
|
All Participants Median Responses* (n = 21)
|
Patient Group Members (n = 8)
|
Professional Committee Member (n = 5)
|
Academic/Expert (n = 4)
|
1) Please rate the questionnaire (PPIQ) in terms of clarity and simplicity.
|
Face validity
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
5
|
2) Were the questionnaire (PPIQ) instructions adequate?
|
Overt format
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
5.5
|
3) Is the way in which the questions (in the PPIQ) were presented confusing to you?
|
Overt format
|
5.5
|
6
|
5
|
5.5
|
4) Please rate the amount of time taken to complete this questionnaire.
|
Ease of use
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
5.5
|
5) To what extent do you think this questionnaire examines public involvement in decision making?
|
Purpose and framework
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
6.5
|
6) How many of the items are crucial or necessary, and how many are redundant or unnecessary?
|
Content validity
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
7
|
7) Do you think that there are important areas (gaps) that should be included in a measure of successful public involvement that have not been included?
|
Content validity
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
8) Do you think the response scale provided in the questionnaire allows you enough choice for your responses?
|
Ease of use
|
6
|
6.5
|
6
|
7
|
9) Do you think that it would be acceptable to others from the standpoint of understanding the questions, the time to complete and their acceptance of its comprehensiveness?
|
Ease of use
|
6
|
6.5
|
5
|
5
|
*One public member is included in the overall analysis. Three participants did not report their profession, which are included in the overall analysis. |
2.2 Sensibility interviews. Of the 21 participants who completed the sensibility questionnaire, 14 agreed to a follow-up sensibility interview (three academic experts, four committee members from drug reimbursement committees in Canada, and seven patient group representatives). Interview data was coded according to Feinstein’s five criteria. During the analysis and coding an additional theme emerged: “clear terminology”.
Overall purpose and framework of the PPIQ. Participants thought the PPIQ addressed the overall purpose, to evaluate patient and public involvement on committees was appropriate as one participant stated: “I felt that the survey was actually pretty well put together” (INT 7).While most participants thought the PPIQ addressed the overall purpose, many wanted the questionnaire to identify the purpose up front in order for the participant to understand the reason for completing the survey: “Knowing the purpose of why and then circling back and showing them the outcomes, I think those are the most important pieces.” (INT 8).
Overt format. Participants highlighted the need to include a progress bar, which identifies how far along one is in the survey: “I find that useful. It’s just a bit of telling people that you’re making progress” (INT 4). Another participant suggested that the PPIQ have a start stop option to aid in the ease of its use: “Some people just for various reasons might not be able to sit down and do it within 20 minutes. So I would absolutely have the option that you can stop and start” (INT 11).
Face validity. Most participants thought that the PPIQ was clear. As one participant said, “I think the questions are … [written] in very easy to understand language. And I think the way they’re written, they would resonate with people” (INT 10). Another participant stated, “I don’t recall any particularly confusing [items]” (INT 5). Participants reported that the content in the PPIQ was comprehensive:
“I thought that it was really thorough. And I thought that it did a really good job asking about people’s thoughts on the public and patient involvement process from many different perspectives” (INT 3).
While participants agreed the PPIQ was comprehensive, they noted that this resulted in a lengthy questionnaire.
Content validity. Participants did not identify any missing items however, a few identified some redundant items. There was discussion around “whether public and patient, consistently need to be pulled apart” (INT 3) across the items. Another participant thought “the questions about the chair of the committee ensuring that these perspectives are considered. It’s a little bit redundant … do we really care that it’s the chair that makes it happen or it’s just part of the process?” (INT 5). Finally, one participant “wondered if maybe it [some items] could be consolidated” (INT 8). Participants also discussed reducing the number of response options.
Ease of use. Participants indicated that overall the PPIQ was easy to use. As one participant noted, “I think it flowed well. Like it didn’t feel like it was leading me anywhere. Which is important, right? It was clear and logical” (INT 8). A concern that they raised was the literacy level of the questionnaire: “I mean I think that anybody with below a high school education would have trouble with this questionnaire” (INT 4). However, another participant said “the language is also reflective of or applicable to who might be filling it out” (INT 11). One participant highlighted that each question was needed: “I understand you’d like to … shorten it a little bit. But truthfully, there's probably not a lot I would eliminate. You know, even just scanning over it again, I mean I think they all ask different things” (INT 2).
Clear terminology. Some participants thought that further clarification of terms and definitions used within the survey was required. Participants highlighted the importance of providing a clear definition for the term, “industry”. For example, “And the other one too just in terms of language, you referenced industry in this as well. I mean I interpret industry … as … pharma. That needs to be spelled out or just defined maybe at the outset” (INT 11). Another participant said that “I remember feeling that sometimes it was difficult to sort of differentiate … [between] patient versus public” (INT 5).
Based on the results of the sensibility testing combined with research team feedback, we revised the PPIQ (Version 4) prior to pilot testing. PPIQ (Version 4) was informed by the Phase 2 sensibility testing, prompting us to improve the face validity and the purpose and context of the PPIQ through more clearly defining its purpose in the introduction of the questionnaire. Also, we more clearly articulated the distinction between public and patient stakeholders throughout the questionnaire. To improve ease of use, we reduced the response options on each question from seven to five options, and because the PPIQ is designed to be administered electronically, we included a status bar to illustrate progress to improve user experience and the perceived length of the PPIQ.
Phase 3: Pilot Testing
A total of 55 committee members across Canada were contacted by email to complete the PPIQ (Version 4) of which 15 (27%) opened the PPIQ, and 14 (25%) participants completed the PPIQ. The sample consisted of professional drug committee members: physician (n = 7), pharmacist (n = 4) and academic/researcher (n = 3). The average age of participants was 52.4 years (SD ± 12.3 years), with eight (57%) participants identifying as male. The average time for participants to complete the PPIQ was 19:00 minutes (SD ± 13:46). Table 5 summarizes the pilot data within each of the nine earlier established evaluation criteria (Rosenberg-Yunger & Bayoumi, 2014). For seven of the nine evaluation criteria, the majority of participants (> 50%) agreed (inclusive of ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’) that their respective committee satisfied the criteria based on the items in the PPIQ (Table 5). Approximately 10% of all participants’ responses were ‘not applicable’ for PPIQ items. Three items were identified as having over one third of the total sample answering ‘not applicable’: Question 18, “Patient member(s) adequately represent patient perspectives during our committee deliberation” (71%, n = 10, ‘not applicable’); Question 19, “Public member(s) adequately represent public perspectives during committee deliberation” (43%, n = 6, ‘not applicable’), and Q53, “Our patient group submission guidelines are easy to find on our website” (43%, n = 6, ‘not applicable’).
Table 5
Criteria
|
Participant Responses
|
Agree *
|
Disagree *
|
NA
|
Neutral
|
Responses
|
%
|
Responses
|
%
|
Responses
|
%
|
Responses
|
%
|
Adequate Opportunity for Participation
|
14
|
100.0
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
Adequate Representation of Stakeholders
|
76
|
49.4
|
36
|
23.4
|
20
|
13.0
|
22
|
14.3
|
Fair Decision-Making Processes
|
46
|
65.7
|
11
|
15.7
|
4
|
5.7
|
9
|
12.9
|
Legitimacy of Committee Process
|
158
|
63.2
|
54
|
21.6
|
14
|
5.60
|
24
|
9.6
|
Meaningful Degree of Participation
|
79
|
62.7
|
18
|
14.3
|
20
|
15.9
|
9
|
7.1
|
Noticeable Effect on Decisions
|
45
|
40.5
|
35
|
31.5
|
17
|
15.3
|
14
|
12.6
|
Rationale and Roles of Patient
|
41
|
97.6
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
1
|
2.4
|
Sufficient support
|
23
|
82.1
|
1
|
3.6
|
0
|
0.00
|
4
|
14.3
|
Considerations of Efficiency
|
37
|
88.1
|
0
|
0.00
|
2
|
4.8
|
3
|
7.1
|
Total Responses
|
519
|
62.0
|
155
|
18.5
|
77
|
9.2
|
86
|
10.3
|
*Based on limited sample size, ‘Agree’ responses are inclusive of ‘Agree’, ‘Strongly Agree’ and ‘Disagree’ responses are inclusive of ‘Disagree’, ‘Strongly Disagree’. |