The Dutch La Trobe communication questionnaire (LCQ): cognitive pretesting and evaluation of content validity

Cognitive-communication disorders (CCDs) are common after acquired brain injury (ABI) and may adversely impact on different aspects of an individual’s life. The La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ) is developed to measure perceived communicative ability after ABI from different perspectives. To date, no Dutch version of the LCQ is available. To cognitively pretest the Dutch LCQ and to evaluate content validity. The Dutch LCQ was pretested in a sample of 7 individuals with brain injury and 7 close-others using cognitive interviews. We obtained feedback on comprehensibility, comprehensiveness and relevance of the LCQ to evaluate content validity. In addition, participants were asked to rate the relevance of each item of the LCQ on a 5-point rating scale for the construct (i.e. CCDs), the target population (i.e. individuals with ABI), and the context of use (i.e. assessment of CCDs in individuals with ABI). Adjustments were made to 10 questions to improve comprehensibility. All respondents declared that they did not miss key concepts of CCDs in the questionnaire. Mean relevance scores as assigned to the individual items of the LCQ by the respondents were all ≥ 3,5, which means that, according to individuals with brain injury and close-others, all items are relevant for the construct, the target population, and the context of use. This study is a step toward improving the identification and management of CCDs in the Netherlands. In addition, the results of this study provide evidence for the content validity of the LCQ.