SYSTEMATIC ASSESSMENT OF GERIATRIC EVALUATION

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of this project is to develop a library of formal assessment procedures and instruments that are utilized in geriatric research studies which seek to describe the influences on the health, functioning, and well-being of elderly participants, This goal is the natural outgrowth of the particular focus of the Yale OAIC on multifactorial geriatric conditions. This broad and necessarily interdisciplinary approach to the study of geriatric conditions requires the use of a wide variety of instruments and assessment procedures. The proposed library will facilitate the identification of appropriate measurement strategies and the compiled information will guide investigators toward the optimal and scientifically appropriate use of such measures. The project represents a close collaboration with the Data Management and Informatics Core (DM/IC) which will be constructing a database for the Geriatrics Research Instrument Library (GRIL). The domains of measurement will include: 1) demographic; 2) environmental; 3) economic; 4) health behaviors & lifestyle; 5) psychological; 6) social; 7) cognitive; 8) medical; 9) physical; and 10) functional. Information about each selected instrument will include (when available): a) description and history; b) reliability: internal consistency, temporal stability, parallel forms, influences on reliability/accuracy; c) validity: comparisons with "gold standards," construct validity, empirical associations with other measures, validity of proxy data sources; d) administration issues: training procedures, question layout, time to administer, cultural sensitivity, normative data; e) alternate versions: equivalence with original scale, re-scoring to match the original. When completed, the library will be funded as an activity of the field Core and field Core staff will provide Yale OAIC investigators with guidance regarding the intelligent and efficient use of the resource. The guidance will include not only advice on choice of measures to support the primary goals of the study, but also suggestions for including domains of measurement to be part of all studies. Finally, the SAGE project intends to make the information available to other OAIC investigators at other NIA-funded sites in the US.