Open AccessMealtime Caregiving Engagement for Residents with Advanced Dementia: Item Response Theory Analysis
Author(s) -
Wen Liu,
Melissa Batchelor
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
western journal of nursing research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.552
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1552-8456
pISSN - 0193-9459
DOI - 10.1177/0193945920943898
Subject(s) - rasch model , item response theory , polytomous rasch model , psychology , rating scale , dementia , item analysis , psychometrics , reliability (semiconductor) , trait , clinical psychology , deviance (statistics) , developmental psychology , medicine , statistics , power (physics) , physics , mathematics , disease , pathology , programming language , quantum mechanics , computer science
The 18-item Mealtime Engagement Scale was developed to measure mealtime caregiving engagement with preliminary reliability and validity. Item Response Theory models (i.e., Rasch model and Rating Response Model) may provide insight into item functioning. This was a secondary analysis of 87 videotaped mealtime observations involving 18 nursing home staff providing care to residents with advanced dementia.In both models, item difficulties were distributed considerably along the latent trait and highly correlated. Two thirds of the 18 items were located at the moderate level of mealtime engagement. "Providing one-on-one assistance" was most frequently observed, and "re-approaching individual to continue meal" was least frequently observed. All items showed desirable fit to the models. The Rasch model had a significantly smaller deviance than the Rating Response Model, indicating an overall better fit. Findings provided preliminary support for item functioning and pointed out directions for item revisions. Future testing in larger diverse samples is needed.