Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 March 2010
Over the past 15 to 20 years there has been discussion and debate in the gerontological literature about the relative merits of self-report versus performance-based observational (PBO) measures of functional status. In 2001 the Aging in Manitoba Longitudinal Study had the opportunity to add a PBO measure of functional status and use it together with two self-report measures on a sub-sample of 138 participants. The PBO measure that was used was the Performance Assessment of Self-Care Skills, Version 3.1 (Home). Using ranks of the proportion of participants who were independent in nine different tasks, no significant correlations were found between the performance measure scores and either of the self-report measures. This finding suggests that using self-report data rather than performance data could lead program developers and policy makers to different conclusions about the extent of need for assistance among older adults.
Depuis 15 à 20 ans, il y a eu discussion et débat dans la littérature gérontologique au sujet des biens-fondé de l'auto-rapport versus les mesures par les compétences caractéristiques (Performance-based observational measures — PBO) du statut fonctionnel. En 2001, l'étude manitobaine intitulée « Aging in Manitoba Longitudinal Study », a eu la chance d'ajouter une mesure PBO du statut fonctionnel ; de plus l'étude l'a utilisé de concert avec deux mesures de l'auto-rapport lors d'un sous-échantillon de 138 participants. L'évaluation de la performance des compétences en matière d'autosoins, Version 3.1 (maison) est la mesure PBO utilisée. En utilisant les niveaux de succession de la fréquence de participants qui sont indépendants dans 9 tâches différentes, la recherche n'a pas trouvé de corrélation significative entre les résultats de la performance des compétences et une ou l'autre des mesures de l'autorapport. Cette conclusion suggère que l'utilisation des données d'auto-rapport plutôt que des données de compétences par les développeurs de programmes et les stratèges, pourrait mener à de différentes conclusions au sujet de l'étendu du besoin d'aide au sein des personnes âgées.
The Aging in Manitoba Study (B. Havens, Principal Investigator) is supported by funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Manitoba Health and receives administrative support from the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba. Partial support for the work presented in this paper was also provided by the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance and support of Madelyn Hall, M.A. (AIM Research Associate), Leedine Lah, M.Sc. (AIM Field Coordinator), Joan C. Rogers, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, ABDA (PASS Co-Creator), and Carolyn Wilkens, B.S. (Research Assistant). Special thanks to Baila Miller, Ph.D. for her valuable comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.