Preinjury Physical Function and Frailty in Injured Older Adults: Self‐ Versus Proxy Responses. Issue 7 (3rd July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maxwell, Cathy A.; Dietrich, Mary S.; Minnick, Ann F.; Mion, Lorraine C.
• Is Part Of: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Volume 63:Issue 7(2015:Jul.)
• Page Start: 1443
• Page End: 1447
• Publication Date: 2015-07-03
• Subjects: Geriatrics -- Periodicals; 618.97
• DOI: 10.1111/jgs.13486
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-8614

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jgs13486-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="jgs13486-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objectives</title> <p>To determine the extent to which proxy respondents can provide reliable reports.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13486-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Design</title> <p>Prospective cohort study.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13486-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Setting</title> <p>Level I trauma center.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13486-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Participants</title> <p>Seventy‐seven older adults (≥65, median 73.0, interquartile range 67–80; 53% female) admitted to three services (trauma, geriatrics, orthopedics) with primary injury diagnoses over a 6‐month period and their proxies (43% spouses, 44% children, 5% siblings, 8% friends or other relatives).</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13486-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Measurements</title> <p>Three brief screening instruments (Vulnerable Elders Survey‐13 (VES‐13), modified Barthel Index (mBI), Life Space Assessment (LSA)) for physical function and frailty were administered to older adults and their proxies within 48 hours of admission. Data analysis included frequencies, percentages, intraclass correlations, and Kappa statistics.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13486-sec-0006" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Approximately 47% (n = 36) of the proxies lived with the older adults. Perfect agreement and 90% agreement between older adults and proxies: There was perfect agreement for 39 (51%) dyads and a difference of 1 or less (range 1–10) for 66 (86%) on the VES‐13, perfect agreement for 48 (62%) and a difference of two or less (range 0–20) for 69 (89%) on the mBI, and perfect agreement for 27 (35%) and a difference of 12 or less (range 0–120) for 55 (71%) on the LSA.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13486-sec-0007" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Proxy reports of older adults' preinjury physical function and frailty are in an acceptable range of agreement with those of the older adults. Using proxy reports when people cannot provide information on themselves may facilitate care management and goal setting.</p> </sec> </abstract>