Validation of the de Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) with older community care recipients

Aim: To validate the de Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) in community‐dwelling older adults who require informal care. Methods: Thirty‐five consecutively recruited older adults (>65 years) living in the community who required informal care were included from Melbourne and regional Victoria, Australia. Participants were assessed using a battery of questionnaires, the Falls Risk for Older People (Community version), modified Barthel Index, Geriatric Depression Scale, the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form 36, the Assessment of Quality of Life and the DEMMI. The DEMMI consists of 15 mobility items that are administered by therapist observation of physical performance. Each participant was assessed in their home. Results: The DEMMI is without floor or ceiling effects for community‐dwelling older adults who require informal care, and evidence of convergent, discriminant and known groups validity was obtained for the DEMMI. DEMMI data fitted the Rasch model and the minimal clinically important difference was 11 points. Conclusions: The DEMMI has suitable clinimetric properties for application in community‐dwelling older adults who require informal care.     

Measuring mobility in frail older people: reliability and validity of the Physical Mobility Scale

Objectives: The study was designed to show the validity and reliability of scoring the Physical Mobility Scale (PMS). PMS was developed by physiotherapists working in residential aged care to specifically show resident functional mobility and to provide information regarding each resident's need for supervision or assistance from one or two staff members and equipment during position changes, transfers, mobilising and personal care. Methods: Nineteen physiotherapists of varying backgrounds and experience scored the performances of nine residents of care facilities from video recordings. The performances were compared to scores on two ‘gold standard’ assessment tools. Four of the physiotherapists repeated the evaluations. Results: The PMS showed excellent content validity and reliability. Conclusions: The PMS provides graded performance of physical mobility, including level of dependency on staff and equipment. This is a major advantage over existing functional assessment tools. There is no need for specific training for physiotherapists to use the tool.     

Feasibility and inter-rater reliability of the ICU Mobility Scale

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to develop a scale for measuring the highest level of mobility in adult ICU patients and to assess its feasibility and inter-rater reliability.

Background

Growing evidence supports the feasibility, safety and efficacy of early mobilization in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, there are no adequately validated tools to quickly, easily, and reliably describe the mobility milestones of adult patients in ICU. Identifying or developing such a tool is a priority for evaluating mobility and rehabilitation activities for research and clinical care purposes.

Methods

This study was performed at two ICUs in Australia. Thirty ICU nursing, and physiotherapy staff assessed the feasibility of the ‘ICU Mobility Scale’ (IMS) using a 10-item questionnaire. The inter-rater reliability of the IMS was assessed by 2 junior physical therapists, 2 senior physical therapists, and 16 nursing staff in 100 consecutive medical, surgical or trauma ICU patients.

Results

An 11 point IMS scale was developed based on multidisciplinary input. Participating clinicians reported that the scale was clear, with 95% of respondents reporting that it took <1 min to complete. The junior and senior physical therapists showed the highest inter-rater reliability with a weighted Kappa (95% confidence interval) of 0.83 (0.76–0.90), while the senior physical therapists and nurses and the junior physical therapists and nurses had a weighted Kappa of 0.72 (0.61–0.83) and 0.69 (0.56–0.81) respectively.

Conclusion

The IMS is a feasible tool with strong inter-rater reliability for measuring the maximum level of mobility of adult patients in the ICU.     

Development and Validation of the Retrospective Alcohol Context Scale

Background: Few validated measures exist to capture the context and consequences of specific drinking events among college students. Objectives: This study sought to describe the development and validation of the Retrospective Alcohol Context Scale (RACS), a 30-day measure of drinking context among college students. Methods: A sample of 169 college students completed daily alcohol assessments for 30 days and completed the RACS at follow-up. Results: The RACS captured fewer negative consequences than daily assessments; however, high agreement was observed on context variables. Conclusion: Results support the validity of the RACS as a measure of drinking context among college students. The RACS may be most useful when information about drinking needs to be collected under limited time and resources. Scientific Significance: Further research is needed to examine the RACS among more diverse, probability samples and over longer time periods.     

Revised Relationship Quality Scale for Caregivers of the Elderly in India

The purpose of this article is to determine the factor structure of the original Strawbridge Relationship Quality Scale (RQS), on Indian caregivers of the elderly. The RQS was administered to 259 caregivers in face-to-face interviews. The confirmatory factor analysis results did not support the 10-item, two-factor scale; however, analysis resulted in an 8-item, two-factor version of the scale. The revised two-factor version showed high internal consistency for the subscales. The revised RQS has preliminary validation on Asian Indians. Practitioners can use this short reliable and valid scale with caution till further validation studies have been conducted on Asian Indian caregivers. Further replications are needed. Implications for future research and practice are presented.     

Validation of a model to predict survival in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia

Summary. Intensive chemotherapy is the treatment of choice for selected elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We recently developed a model to predict survival, thereby providing objective information upon which to select appropriate therapy for such patients. Such models, however, must be validated on a cohort of patients not used during the development of the model.
We have tested the model using a series of 61 elderly patients consecutively treated with intensive chemotherapy.
Using several statistical techniques, we have shown that the model is of value in predicting prognosis, though two patients did markedly better than the model prediction. This model may be useful for predicting survival in elderly patients with AML and warrants more extensive validation.     

A Modified SCAG Scale in Portuguese

To evaluate the incidence of mental decline of the Alzheimer's type we have tested a new tool, a modified version, Portuguese language, SCAG scale, adapted for easy use by a previously untrained group of General Practitioners (G.P.) in their offices, and tested this instrument by treating a large group (4388) of patients with a standard drug (di-hydroergotoxine-Hydergine R Sandoz) for a total treatment period of 12 weeks. We concluded that abnormal results pointing out to mental decline of the Alzheimer's type was present in patients younger than 60 years of age (24.5% of the total), and that this modified SCAG scale could be easily used by G.P.s during normal office visits, and is useful to access the evolution of a given therapy.     

Italian Validation of the Healthcare Needs Scale for Youth with Congenital Heart Disease and Its Short-Form Development

Aims: This study aimed at providing an Italian short version of the ‘healthcare needs scale for youth with congenital heart disease’ (I-HNS-CHD-s), describing its construct validity and reliability. Methods: A multi-method and multi-phase design were adopted. Phase one referred to the cultural-linguistic validation of the original scale into Italian. Phase two tasted content and face validity of the Italian-translated scale. Phase three included the psychometric validation process of scale, encompassed two different steps: first cross-sectional data collection (sample A) purposed at determining the psychometric characteristics of the I-HNS-CHD-s, using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Then, a second round of cross-sectional data collection (sample B) was performed using the version of I-HNS-CHD-s derived from the previous step, and it purposed at confirming the scale factor structure and at assessing its reliability. Results: I-HNS-CHD-s showed evidence of face and content validity, adequate construct and internal consistency and stability. Specifically, I-HNS-CHD-s had 14 items kept by four domains, labelled as follows: Healthcare education, clinical support, emotional support, continuum of care. These domains were predicted by a secondorder factor, which was labelled as Healthcare needs. Overall I-HNS-CHD-s encompassed only the items that showed high performance in the psychometric analysis. Accordingly, I-HNS-CHD-s is a shorter form of the original scale (14 items instead of 25). Conclusions: I-HNS-CHD-s is a psychometrically robust measure of the healthcare and psychosocial needs of Italian adolescents and young adults with congenital heart disease.     

Validity and reliability of Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale questionnaire (PACES) in children with asthma

Objective: The aim of this study is to test the psychometric properties of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) in children with asthma. Method: Participants included 185 children (age?=?11.38?±?1.12 years; body mass index?=?20.66?±?4.13?kg/m²): 107 children with asthma and 78 healthy children. To test the enjoyment of physical activity, PACES of Motl et al. was used in its Spanish version. In addition, the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ–C), Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ) and Physical Self-Concept Questionnaire (CAF) have been used. Results: The results have shown a two-factor structure corresponding to the model whose settings have been good. PACES internal consistency was very high (Cronbach’s alpha?=?0.906). The PACES test–retest reliability indicates a good temporal concordance (Spearman rho?=?0.868, p?Conclusions: The findings confirm that PACES is a valid and reliable measure of physical activity enjoyment in children with asthma.