Psychometric properties of long-term care needs questionnaire for older Chinese adults with dementia.
Ning Sun, Rangcheng Jia, Chunyan Guo and 3 others
PMID 32779353WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults with mild dementia in China rated their long-term care needs highest for basic and specialist care and for life care.
The 30-item questionnaire gave stable scores over three weeks.
Key findings
01The questionnaire was completed by 1,212 of 1,500 older adults with dementia (80.80%).
02The full questionnaire had Cronbach's alpha .93, and the four sub-questionnaires ranged from .83 to .92.
03Mean scores were highest for basic and specialist care services (3.54) and life care services (3.42).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
No random sampling was used, and participants came only from five Chinese cities, so the sample may not represent all older adults with dementia in China. Only people with mild dementia who could finish the questionnaire were included, so it does not speak to severe dementia or communication impairment. The study did not test whether questionnaire scores predict quality of life or cognitive status. Test-retest reliability was checked in 100 participants, and the paper reports a total questionnaire mean of 13.50 and a score range of 4-20 while describing 30 items scored 1-5, making the total score hard to interpret.
Declared interests
The authors declared no financial or other involvement that may potentially bias their work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high reliability coefficients as proof that the questionnaire improves care or predicts outcomes. The study did not test care outcomes, and it included only people with mild dementia who could complete the questionnaire.