Calibrating EASY-Care independence scale to improve accuracy

TY - JOUR

T1 - Calibrating EASY-Care independence scale to improve accuracy

AU - Jotheeswaran, A T

AU - Dias, Amit

AU - Philp, Ian

AU - Patel, Vikram

AU - Prince, Martin

N1 - © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.

PY - 2016/7/11

Y1 - 2016/7/11

N2 - BACKGROUND: there is currently limited support for the reliability and validity of the EASY-Care independence scale, with little work carried out in low- or middle-income countries. Therefore, we assessed the internal construct validity and hierarchical and classical scaling properties among frail dependent older people in the community.OBJECTIVE: we assessed the internal construct validity and hierarchical and classical scaling properties among frail dependent older people in the community.METHODS: three primary care physicians administered EASY-Care comprehensive geriatric assessment for 150 frail and/or dependent older people in the primary care setting. A Mokken model was applied to investigate hierarchical scaling properties of EASY-Care independence scale, and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of the scale was also examined.RESULTS: we found that EASY-Care independence scale is highly internally consistent and is a strong hierarchical scale, hence providing strong evidence for unidimensionality. However, two items in the scale (unable to use telephone and manage finances) had much lower item Loevinger H coefficients than others. Exclusion of these two items improved the overall internal consistency of the scale.CONCLUSIONS: the strong performance of the EASY-Care independence scale among community-dwelling frail older people is encouraging. This study confirms that EASY-Care independence scale is highly internally consistent and a strong hierarchical scale.

AB - BACKGROUND: there is currently limited support for the reliability and validity of the EASY-Care independence scale, with little work carried out in low- or middle-income countries. Therefore, we assessed the internal construct validity and hierarchical and classical scaling properties among frail dependent older people in the community.OBJECTIVE: we assessed the internal construct validity and hierarchical and classical scaling properties among frail dependent older people in the community.METHODS: three primary care physicians administered EASY-Care comprehensive geriatric assessment for 150 frail and/or dependent older people in the primary care setting. A Mokken model was applied to investigate hierarchical scaling properties of EASY-Care independence scale, and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of the scale was also examined.RESULTS: we found that EASY-Care independence scale is highly internally consistent and is a strong hierarchical scale, hence providing strong evidence for unidimensionality. However, two items in the scale (unable to use telephone and manage finances) had much lower item Loevinger H coefficients than others. Exclusion of these two items improved the overall internal consistency of the scale.CONCLUSIONS: the strong performance of the EASY-Care independence scale among community-dwelling frail older people is encouraging. This study confirms that EASY-Care independence scale is highly internally consistent and a strong hierarchical scale.

U2 - 10.1093/ageing/afw106

DO - 10.1093/ageing/afw106

M3 - Article

C2 - 27496925

SN - 0002-0729

JO - Age and Ageing

JF - Age and Ageing

ER -