Psychometric Properties, Feasibility, and Acceptability of the Self-Reported interRAI Check-Up Assessment

To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and psychometric properties of the self-report version of the interRAI Check-Up (CUSR).

Cross-sectional study of participant ratings of item content and difficulty completing the CUSR. Participants were also randomly assigned to complete the assessment by themselves or with help from a lay interviewer.

A total of 184 older adults from diverse backgrounds, served by 6 Canadian organizations in Ontario and Nova Scotia were recruited. Settings ranged from retirement communities for healthy older adults to assisted living facilities.

Time to complete the interRAI CUSR was tracked automatically. Participants self-reported on what items they wanted to have modified, added, or deleted. The also rated whether items were embarrassing or difficult to complete. Psychometric properties were examined between the 2 approaches to completion and were benchmarked against existing reports on psychometric properties of clinician-led home care assessments.

The interRAI CUSR takes about 28 minutes to complete with both self-administered and lay interviewer approaches. The convergent validity and reliability of CUSR is comparable to those of clinician-based assessments like the Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care. Most participants had no difficulty completing the assessment, and none rated the task as very difficult. Poor self-rated health and difficulty with phone use were predictive of any difficult in completing the assessment in a multivariate logistic regression. Most participants reported that CUSR adequately described their health needs, but arthritis, hypertension, and mental health issues were identified as items to be added by participants.

The CUSR is an appropriate, feasible assessment system with good psychometric properties for use with general populations, including primary care, community services, and patient-reported outcome measurement studies. Interoperability with other interRAI assessments makes it an ideal system to use to obtain a longitudinal view of the person's needs over time.