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. 2021 Apr;43(4):374-380.
doi: 10.1177/0193945920943898. Epub 2020 Jul 17.

Mealtime Caregiving Engagement for Residents with Advanced Dementia: Item Response Theory Analysis

Wen Liu  1 , Melissa Batchelor  2
Affiliations

Mealtime Caregiving Engagement for Residents with Advanced Dementia: Item Response Theory Analysis

Wen Liu et al. West J Nurs Res. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

The 18-item Mealtime Engagement Scale was developed to measure mealtime caregiving engagement with preliminary reliability and validity. Item Response Theory models (i.e., Rasch model and Rating Response Model) may provide insight into item functioning. This was a secondary analysis of 87 videotaped mealtime observations involving 18 nursing home staff providing care to residents with advanced dementia.In both models, item difficulties were distributed considerably along the latent trait and highly correlated. Two thirds of the 18 items were located at the moderate level of mealtime engagement. "Providing one-on-one assistance" was most frequently observed, and "re-approaching individual to continue meal" was least frequently observed. All items showed desirable fit to the models. The Rasch model had a significantly smaller deviance than the Rating Response Model, indicating an overall better fit. Findings provided preliminary support for item functioning and pointed out directions for item revisions. Future testing in larger diverse samples is needed.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02269956.

Keywords: dementia; item response theory; mealtime engagement; mursing home; psychometrics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Standardized item parameters for location of the 18 items using the Rasch and RRM (N = 87 videos). Notes. The latent trait scale (standardized) is shown on the y-axis in this figure. On the x-axis, “easy” items appear to the left and “difficult” items are shown to the right. Items are scored such that proficiency (high score) reflects the level of mealtime engagement in nursing home staff.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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