Abstract:

Develops a standardized self-report functional assessments used to evaluate needs for and responses to assistive technology interventions by community-dwelling elderly. The goal of the new assessment measure is to produce concise linear measures from ordinal scales that provide the same clinical information in less time and with less respondent burden. The study used data from a 5-year longitudinal study of elderly persons, the Consumer Assessment Study (CAS), at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The sample was 179 people (mean age 75.3), of whom 67 percent were females; all had some level of physical, sensory, or cognitive impairment. Demographic data and health status information included the number and types of diseases, uses of medication, and health care services provided. The data collection tools included the Sickness Impact Profile, Functional Independence Measure, Older Americans Resources and Services Program Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire (OARS), Jette-Functional Pain Index, the MMSE, the CES-D, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Rasch analysis was used to identify redundant or misfitting items in each instrument and to transform different ordinal scales into a common metric allowing comparisons across assessment areas. An alternative assessment was produced that reduced the total items from 122 to 44, representing five unidimensional measures of physical and cognitive functioning, pain, depression, and self-esteem; the time was reduced from the original one to 3 hours to 37-111 minutes; and no clinically important information was lost using the alternative assessment.