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The Validity of Elderly Patients' Self Reports of Daily Functioning
Author(s) -
Bentur N.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
australian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 0726-4240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.1996.tb00012.x
Subject(s) - socks , activities of daily living , psychology , physical therapy , reliability (semiconductor) , physical medicine and rehabilitation , medicine , clinical psychology , computer science , computer network , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
The plethora of measures and tools for evaluating functional status raises questions as to their validity and reliability, and that of the data collected with them. The goal of this study was to examine the validity of the self‐reports on functional status of elderly patients hospitalised in rehabilitative geriatric settings, relative to patient observations. The functional status of 367 inpatients (half of whom suffered stroke and half of whom suffered fracture of the neck of femur), whose average age was 76, was examined through their performance of three tasks: putting on a shirt, putting on socks, and walking a short distance. First, patients were interviewed regarding each task, and then a direct observation made. High correlation was found between the interview and the observation for putting on a shirt and walking a short distance. A lower correlation was found for putting on socks. The possible reasons for this difference, and its implications, are discussed.