Background: The Nursing Home Component (NHC) of the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a national survey containing data on nursing homes and is widely used to assess cognitive status of Nursing Home residents. The five-item Cognitive Performance Scale (CPS) was specifically developed to assess cognitive functioning. Objectives: To assess the reliability (internal consistency) and validity (criterion like validity) of the CPS. Methods: MEPS round 1 data for 3,747 Nursing Home residents were obtained. Item total correlations and Cronbach's alphas were estimated for the CPS scale. Criterion like validity was assessed by estimating Pearson's correlation coefficients between CPS scores and a binary measure of presence or absence of Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease. Results: All item total correlations for the five CPS items were greater than 0.6 and remained relatively unchanged when stratified by level of abstraction (degree to which data were directly abstracted from the MDS). Cronbach's alpha for the summated CPS scale score was 0.73. A total of 1,446 MEPS subjects (38%) had moderate cognitive impairment (CPS score=2 or 3) which was greater than reported from previous multi state MDS studies. The CPS score was modestly correlated with the presence or absence of dementia (r=0.32 with Alzheimer's & r=0.27 with Dementia). Conclusion:The CPS score appears to be reliable with acceptable measures of internal consistency. The low correlations between the CPS score and diagnostic variables is cause for concern and raises the need for further studies to validate the scale and the diagnostic variables in the MEPS data.
Learning Objectives: Through the poster presentation participants would 1.Learn about the reliability of the widely used Cognitive Performance Scale with special reference to the MEPS-NHC. 2.Recognize the need for further studies to validate the CPS scale and the diagnostic variables in the MEPS data
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Mental Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.