SELECTING NURSING-HOME RESIDENTS FOR SATISFACTION SURVEYS

Many cognitively impaired nursing home (NH) residents are excluded fro m interviews measuring quality of life or care based on the belief tha t these residents cannot accurately answer questions. These exclusions are based on subjective criteria and ignore individual differences am ong cognitively impaired NH residents. This study describes a screenin g rule based on four minimum data set (MDS) indicators that provides a n objective method for identifying residents capable of accurate repor t. Sixty percent of a sample of 83 NH residents who could answer yes o r no questions about their care could do so accurately. Eighty-one per cent of the sample was correctly classified by the MDS indicators.