Definition
Jacobson and Truax (1991) proposed a psychometric method for determining if a change on a psychological test is reliable. That is, does the change represent a real improvement or deterioration in the patient’s clinical condition – or does it simply reflect measurement error? This method involved the calculation of a “reliable change index” (RCI). The original formula used by Jacobson and Truax has been debated, and modified several times, over the years (Hageman and Arrindell 1993, 1999a, b; Hsu 1989, 1999; Speer 1992; Speer and Greenbaum 1995). The reliable change “index” is the derived score from this formula, and it is expressed as a z-score. As such, RCI scores are associated with confidence intervals (CI) for measurement error surrounding test-retest difference scores (e.g., z = 1.28, 0.80 CI; z = 1.64, 0.90 CI; and z= 1.96 = 0.95 CI). The original formula for calculating the RCI is not provided here, because it has been modified several times and because it yields a...
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Iverson, G.L. (2018). Reliable Change Index. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1242
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