Assessing person-centred care: An item response theory approach

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics
• Healthcare Assessment
• Geriatric Care

Background:

• Classical test theory dominates person-centred care assessment.
• Advances in psychometric assessment necessitate modern test theory applications.
• Need for improved measurement precision in person-centred care.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate selected person-centred care items using item response theory (IRT).
• Assess item's ability to differentiate respondents across the construct range with precision.
• Identify optimal items for efficient and precise measurement of person-centredness.

Main Methods:

• IRT analysis of selected items from validated person-centred care measures.
• Survey administered to a Swedish sample of 1342 elderly care staff.
• Examination of item information levels and discrimination across the trait range.

Main Results:

• Items showed varying levels of information on the underlying construct.
• Most informative items demonstrated better discrimination at lower levels of person-centredness.
• IRT analysis provided insights into item performance for psychometric evaluation.

Conclusions:

• IRT is valuable for developing shorter, effective measurement instruments.
• Including highly informative items enhances assessment efficiency.
• A proposed set of ten items demonstrates satisfactory psychometric quality for person-centred care assessment.