Latent profile analysis in health research: a case study
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Ianculescu, Marilena
Balog, Alexandru
Cristescu, Irina
Iordache, Dragoș Daniel
Băjenaru, Lidia
DOI
10.1109/CSCS.2019.00117
Abstract
In recent years, quantitative methods and psychometric analyses have been an integral component in the process of developing and evaluating health measurement instruments. The objective of the present study is to demonstrate the potential and usefulness of the person-centered approach in the field of e-health by identifying groups of patients with similar characteristics. Based on a sample of data and using latent profile analysis (LPA) in Mplus 7.4, four profiles (groups) that differ between themselves both quantitatively (level) and qualitative (shape) were identified. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that there are significant differences between the four profiles.