Searching HaPI: Health and Psychosocial Instruments

Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI) is a database that provides access to information on approximately 15,000 measurement instruments (i.e. questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, coding schemes, rating scales, etc.) in the fields of health and psychosocial sciences. The database covers 1985 to date and is updated quarterly. NOTE: The full-text of the instruments are not included in the database; however, HaPI can be used to:

• Discover what instruments exist;
• Determine the availability of reliability and validity evidence;
• Track the history of an instrument over time;
• See what other instruments have already developed in your field of study;
• Locate ordering information for a known instrument.

For basic instructions on how to search OVID in general, see here. For searches specific to the HaPI database, read on.
Connect to HealthLinks: Databases. Select "Health and Psychosocial Instruments: HaPI" from the list.

Quick Hint: In the following examples, measurement tools (eg. Surveys, questionnaires, etc.) are referred to as "instruments".

How do I Search for a ...?

Primary Source

A Primary Source is either the original article where the instrument was first published or a resource that contains the full-text of the instrument.

I am doing a study on professional burnout in different ethnic groups. A colleague suggested using a specific instrument but I can't remember the name of it "mas" something. How can I find it?

• Enter professional burnout and mas$ ($ = truncation wildcard) in the search box.
• Select "Primary Source".
• Click "Search".

Secondary Source

Secondary sources describe literature that does not include the entire instrument. It can include articles that describe how the instrument was used, outcomes, and more, as well as some level of detail about the instrument or measure, such as sample questions.

I have found the "Maslach Burnout Inventory" but now I would like to find some other studies who have used the instrument before. Can I do that?

• Enter Maslach Burnout Inventory in the search box.
• Select "Secondary Source".
• Click "Search".

Review

Review Sources include information about articles that discuss the use of an instrument.

Now I would like to find articles that have reviewed this instrument. How do I do that?

• Enter Maslach Burnout Inventory in the search box.
• Click "Search".
• Enter the number of the search (found in the "#" column of the Search History table) in the search box and select the "Limits" icon above.
• Select "More Limits"
• In the "Source Code" box at the bottom, select "Review Source".
• Click "Limit a Search".

Validity & Reliability

If validity or reliability evidence is available, it will be indicated in the validity and reliability fields of the record using the key: "Y" = Reported, "X" = Not Reported.

Is there a way to search for citations that discuss the validity and reliability of the instrument?

• Enter logical thinking and y.ry,va in the search box (this search indicates that you would only like to retrieve only those records that have a "y" [yes] in the fields "ry" [reliability] and "va" [validity]. Note that there is a comma between "ry" and "va").
• Click "Search".

• In order to view validity and reliability information, you must click on "Complete Reference".

*NOTE: Not every record includes information in the validity or reliability fields.

Translation

I have decided to use the Maslach Burnout Inventory for my study, but one of my study groups is Dutch and I don't have a translator. Has this instrument been translated into different languages?

• Enter Maslach Burnout Inventory in the search box.
• Click "Search".
• Enter the number of the search (found in the "#" column of the Search History table) in the search box and select the "Additional Limits" icon below.

• In the "Source Code" box at the bottom, select "Translated Source".
• Click "Limit a Search".

Obtaining a copy of the instrument Instruments are often difficult to find, and even if you do find the full-text instrument in an article, it is possible that the test is subject to copyright and you will have to ask permission from the author(s) before using it. If you are willing to pay a fee, Behavioral Measurement Database Services (the producers of HaPI) will take care of these details for you. If available from their files, single instruments cost $20. If BMDS has to search and locate the instrument, the cost is $30.