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Development and psychometric evaluation of the Social Connectedness Index in nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease and dementia using the Minimum Data Set 3.0
Author(s) -
Bova Carol A.,
Jesdale Bill M.,
Mbrah Attah,
Botelho Lynn,
Lapane Kate L.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.5516
Subject(s) - social connectedness , minimum data set , dementia , gerontology , psychology , psychometrics , construct validity , nursing homes , exploratory factor analysis , medicine , anxiety , clinical psychology , nursing , psychiatry , disease , social psychology , pathology
Objectives To develop a reliable and valid measure of social connectedness among nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) using items available in the Minimum Dataset 3.0 (MDS). Methods We conducted a retrospective scale development study using the 2016 MDS with two populations of nursing home residents with ADRD: (1) new admissions (not post‐acute care) ( n = 146,694); (2) residents with comprehensive annual assessments ( n = 294,704). Twenty‐nine items were included for consideration. Psychometric evaluation included content validity, item analysis, internal consistency reliability, criterion‐related validity, and exploratory factor analysis. Analyses were stratified by self‐ or staff‐assessed pain. Results The resulting five item Social Connectedness Index (SCI) has good content (Fleiss Kappa = 0.67), criterion‐related and construct validity and adequate internal consistency reliability (Kuder Richardson‐20: 0.63–0.74) in persons with ADRD. As anticipated, younger residents, men, and those with severe cognitive impairment, anxiety, and depression were more likely to be categorized in the low social connectedness group. Conclusion The SCI is a promising measure for estimating the amount of social connectedness present for nursing home residents with ADRD. Further work needs to be done to evaluate the usefulness of the SCI for evaluating health and well‐being among this population over time.