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Multicenter Study
. 2014 Apr 18:14:51.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2318-14-51.

Establishing a composite endpoint for measuring the effectiveness of geriatric interventions based on older persons' and informal caregivers' preference weights: a vignette study

Cynthia S Hofman  1 , Peter Makai, Han Boter, Bianca M Buurman, Anton J M de Craen, Marcel G M Olde Rikkert, Rogier A R T Donders, René J F Melis
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Establishing a composite endpoint for measuring the effectiveness of geriatric interventions based on older persons' and informal caregivers' preference weights: a vignette study

Cynthia S Hofman et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey Minimal Dataset's (TOPICS-MDS) questionnaire which measures relevant outcomes for elderly people was successfully incorporated into over 60 research projects of the Dutch National Care for the Elderly Programme. A composite endpoint (CEP) for this instrument would be helpful to compare effectiveness of the various intervention projects. Therefore, our aim is to establish a CEP for the TOPICS-MDS questionnaire, based on the preferences of elderly persons and informal caregivers.

Methods: A vignette study was conducted with 200 persons (124 elderly and 76 informal caregivers) as raters. The vignettes described eight TOPICS-MDS outcomes of older persons (morbidity, functional limitations, emotional well-being, pain experience, cognitive functioning, social functioning, self-perceived health and self-perceived quality of life) and the raters assessed the general well-being (GWB) of these vignette cases on a numeric rating scale (0-10). Mixed linear regression analyses were used to derive the preference weights of the TOPICS-MDS outcomes (dependent variable: GWB scores; fixed factors: the eight outcomes; unstandardized coefficients: preference weights).

Results: The mixed regression model that combined the eight outcomes showed that the weights varied from 0.01 for social functioning to 0.16 for self-perceived health. A model that included "informal caregiver" showed that the interactions between this variable and each of the eight outcomes were not significant (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: A preference-weighted CEP for TOPICS-MDS questionnaire was established based on the preferences of older persons and informal caregivers. With this CEP optimal comparing the effectiveness of interventions in older persons can be realized.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency distribution and correlation matrices for men (blue) and women (green) of TOPICS-CEP and self-assessment scores of the case vignettes by age groups (N = 241). Overall, the self-assessment scores had a broader range compared to TOPICS-CEP scores. The correlation matrices indicate moderate correlation between the two scores for all age groups. Pearson correlation test on whole group (r = 0.52, p = 0.00).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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