Relationship between self-report and performance measures of function: a systematic review

Abstract

The authors conducted a systematic review of studies examining correlations between assessments of function obtained using self-report and those obtained using performance-based measures for community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: Articles for this review were identified using electronic searching in MEDLINE, CINHAL, and AGELINE and hand-searching techniques. Two reviewers selected the studies that met the inclusion criteria, extracted the data, and assessed the methodological quality of the data.

Results: Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria for review. Correlations between self-report and performance ranged from -0.72 to 0.60. Sixty per cent of the studies compared self-report instruments measuring disability with performance measures addressing functional limitations. In studies that assessed the same functional tasks and functional limitations using the two methods, the correlation varied between 0.60 and 0.86.

Conclusion: When the construct measured by the two methods was the same, the correlations were moderate to large and, therefore, measurement of functional limitations by self-report or performance probably reflected a similar assessment of function.