DEVELOPING A NEW METRIC FOR ADLS

BACKGROUND: Most ADL summary measures add up the number of dependencie s. They assume an equal weighting among items and require an arbitrary definition of dependency. METHODS: A panel of experts in geriatrics w as asked to rate a set of ADL and IADL components in terms of the cont ribution of each to overall dependency using a magnitude estimation (M E) technique. The ratings were done for both domains and for levels of function within each domain. The resultant scores were compared with the usual dependency count approach. RESULTS: The distribution of weig hted items appears to have face validity. The pattern of dependency tr aced by the ME model was intermediate between those created by simple counts with two different definitions of dependency. The ME approach h as stronger statistical properties than the ordinal scoring approach.C ONCLUSIONS: The ME approach appears to be a reasonable and workable me thod for creating a measure that permits meaningful statements about t he mean value of functional dependencies. This result can be used for any comparison of means such as across individuals, across aggregates of individuals, or across time.