Validity of a Diagnostic Scale for Acupuncture: Application of the Item Response Theory to the Five Viscera Score
Table 3
Gender differences and the correlation of a raw scale score and the latent trait θ.
Raw score
Latent trait
Generation
Subscale
Male
Female
P value†
Male
Female
P value†
Male r
Female r
Whole r
Mean
(SD)
Mean
(SD)
Mean
(SD)
Mean
(SD)
Liver
430
4.45
(3.62)
164
6.67
(3.95)
<0.001
421
0.11
(0.85)
164
0.53
(1.07)
<0.001
0.77***
0.92***
0.83***
Heart
430
5.00
(3.89)
164
5.98
(3.75)
0.002
418
0.12
(0.81)
163
0.26
(0.88)
0.038
0.79***
0.92***
0.83***
Whole subjects
Spleen
430
5.82
(3.82)
164
6.89
(3.81)
0.001
414
0.04
(0.92)
160
0.28
(0.87)
0.001
0.91***
0.94***
0.92***
Lung
430
4.24
(2.64)
164
5.04
(2.75)
0.002
405
0.11
(0.98)
158
0.44
(0.98)
<0.001
0.87***
0.93***
0.89***
Kidney
430
4.31
(3.59)
164
5.71
(3.68)
<0.001
356
0.17
(0.84)
153
0.41
(0.87)
0.003
0.95***
0.97***
0.96***
Liver
295
4.27
(3.63)
121
6.21
(3.88)
<0.001
290
0.08
(0.86)
121
0.34
(1.01)
0.013
0.73***
0.91***
0.80***
Heart
295
4.94
(3.85)
121
6.17
(3.82)
0.001
287
0.11
(0.81)
121
0.31
(0.89)
0.015
0.78***
0.91***
0.83***
Adolescents and young adults (18–29)
Spleen
295
5.83
(3.96)
121
6.93
(3.89)
0.005
284
0.02
(0.95)
119
0.25
(0.91)
0.008
0.90***
0.94***
0.91***
Lung
295
4.40
(2.72)
121
5.25
(2.75)
0.004
279
0.15
(1.02)
118
0.52
(0.94)
<0.001
0.87***
0.93***
0.90***
Kidney
295
4.24
(3.61)
121
5.63
(3.69)
<0.001
243
0.17
(0.85)
114
0.38
(0.87)
0.023
0.95***
0.97***
0.96***
Liver
135
4.84
(3.57)
43
7.98
(3.88)
<0.001
131
0.17
(0.85)
43
1.06
(1.08)
<0.001
0.86***
0.97***
0.91***
Heart
135
5.13
(3.98)
43
5.44
(3.54)
0.533
131
0.13
(0.81)
42
0.09
(0.86)
0.850
0.82***
0.97***
0.86***
Adults (30+)
Spleen
135
5.79
(3.51)
43
6.77
(3.61)
0.089
130
0.08
(0.84)
41
0.36
(0.76)
0.042
0.94***
0.96***
0.95***
Lung
135
3.90
(2.44)
43
4.44
(2.71)
0.326
126
0.04
(0.87)
40
0.22
(1.09)
0.489
0.87***
0.92***
0.89***
Kidney
135
4.47
(3.55)
43
5.93
(3.69)
0.017
113
0.17
(0.81)
39
0.50
(0.88)
0.039
0.96***
0.97***
0.96***
*** 0.001, r: Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, †Mann-Whitney U test, ††due to marginal maximum likelihood estimation, and θ cannot be determined for scores that are either 0 or 16.
