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The Behavioural Assessment Scale: internal consistency and factor structure for an elderly psychiatric population
1Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Applied Neuropsychology
|November 30, 1999
Summary
The Behavioural Assessment Scale (BAS) shows limited internal consistency for most subscales. Factor analysis revealed three key factors, suggesting BAS sensitivity to overall functional decline in geriatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric Psychiatry
- Psychometric Assessment
- Neuropsychology
Background:
- The Behavioural Assessment Scale (BAS) comprises subscales for Language, Mobility, Physical Independence, Occupation and Orientation, and Social Integration.
- These subscales aim to quantify specific functional domains in geriatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of the BAS.
- To assess the internal consistency and factor structure of the BAS in geriatric psychiatry inpatients.
Main Methods:
- Psychometric assessment using internal consistency measures.
- Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on a sample of 275 geriatric psychiatry inpatients.
Main Results:
- Internal consistency analysis indicated that only the Language and Physical Independence subscales measured a unified construct.
- Factor analysis identified three highly correlated factors: Daily Living Skills, Communication/Social Skills, and Problem Behavior, explaining 65% of item variance.
- High intercorrelations suggest the BAS is sensitive to global functional decline associated with dementia severity.
Conclusions:
- The Language and Physical Independence subscales demonstrate good internal consistency.
- The BAS appears to capture global functional decline in geriatric psychiatry inpatients, likely reflecting dementia severity.
- Recommendations include using factor-based subscales and a general functioning aggregate for clinical application of the BAS.