Reliability and Validity of Korean Brief Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Questionnaire

ABSTRACT

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the Korean Brief Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Questionnaire through testing the reliability and validity of it. Methods: Questionnaire consisted of items on medical, functional, mental, socioeconomic status and lifestyle was administered as test-retest on 78 elderly outpatients at 6 university hospitals in Seoul, Korea. Weighted kappa value, kappa value, Pearson correlation coefficients and overall percent agreement were calculated to measure reliability. Validity coefficient was estimated by using reliability coefficient. Results: Reliability coefficients and validity coefficients were higher than 0.50 (fair or good) for 28 items (87.5%) among 32. For test- retest reliability, median was 1.00 (range, 0.87-1.00) for overall percent agreement, 0.66 (range, 0.27~1.00) for kappa value, and 0.83 (range, 0.65~1.00) for Pearson's correlation coefficients. Differences of reliability and validity were identified by gender for 19 items (59.4%), and by age group for 12 items (37.5%). Conclusion: The Korean Brief Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Questionnaire appears to be a reliable and valid screening tool. After additional study is performed, this instrument can be used as a useful tool for comprehensive outpatient geriatric assessment.