BARTHEL INDEX INFORMATION ELICITED OVER THE TELEPHONE - IS IT RELIABLE

This study examined the comparability of estimates of functional statu s elicited through a telephone interview and a face-to-face interview, The Barthel Index, a commonly used measure to assess activities of da ily living, was administered over the telephone and then again in the home to 366 individuals, up to 5 yr after their discharge from a rehab ilitation hospital. One-half of the telephone interviews were performe d by health professionals and the other half by trained lay interviewe rs; all of the home interviews were performed by health professionals. Proxy-respondents provided information for those unable to respond fo r themselves, The percent agreement between the scores on the telephon e and on the home interview was always greater than 90%; the intraclas s correlation coefficient for the telephone/home comparison was 0.89. Responses between the modes of interview were more consistent when pro vided by self-respondents than when provided by proxies. The telephone assessment worked well in identifying those who did not have function al disabilities; all individuals who scored 100 on the home interview, scored 95 or better on the telephone. When differences arose, they we re always in those considered to have moderate to severe impairment an d were most often (23 of 29 times) in the direction of higher scores, indicative of less disability, on the telephone. The results of this s tudy suggest that, with the exception of a small subgroup of patients, functional status can be elicited reliably over the telephone by both lay persons and health professionals.