Background: Measurement tools for Compliance with Non- invasive Ventilation are inevitably needed to Assess changes following specific treatment strategies. The aim of this Study was to develop a questionnaire to assess treatment adherence and comfort in patients with Non-invasive Ventilation.
Methods: The topics of health impairment, handling, time of use, and aspects of ventilation were covered. These topics were predefined by an expert panel to ensure content validity. The expert panel consisted of physicians, respiratory therapists, critical care nurses, psychologists, and patient representatives. Second, all predefined topics were divided into items and rated by the expert panel using a 5-point Likert scale from "not at all relevant" (-2) to "absolutely relevant" (+2) to ensure content validity. Only relevant items (?1 to +2) were used for item development, whereas nonrelevant items (<1) were not subject to item development
Results: In total, the expert panel evaluated 37 items. 16 were deemed relevant for item development. 3 Experts merged the relevant items and formed the corresponding questions. The items are answered "yes" and "no" on a 2-point scale. The final NIV-Adherence and Comfort Questionnaire (NIV-ACQ) summary score contains 14 items and ranges from 0 (worst compliance) to 14 (best compliance).
Conclusion: The NIV-ACQ is the first disease-specific treatment adherence questionnaire developed for patients on Non-invasive Ventilation. Further studies regarding validity and practicality have to follow.