Measurement of mood states in stroke patients: Validation of the visual analog mood scales

Objective: The Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS) were recently developed by Stern and colleagues to assess mood state in neurologically impaired patien ts. These brief scales require that a patient place a single pen mark along a 100mm vertical line to indicate how he or she presently feels. Although previous studies have garnered evidence in support of the validity of these brief scales when administered to psychiatric patients and healthy young a dult and geriatric control subjects, it is presently unknown whether the VA MS are valid measures of internal mood state in neurologically impaired str oke patients. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess reliab ility and validity of the VAMS in a stroke-patient population. Participants: Participants were 41 (21 men and 20 women inpatients admitted for either acute stroke or rehabilitation following stroke. Design: Participants completed both the VAMS and a modified version of the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Nonparametric multitrait-multimethod analyse s were performed using the Pearson correlations among and between the six s ubscales of the VAMS and the POMS. Conclusion: The VAMS possess good convergent and discriminant validity when administered to stroke inpatients, providing further support for the utili ty of these brief, easily administered scales. (C) 1999 by the American Con gress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medic ine and Rehabilitation.