Preliminary Validation of a Patient‐Reported Measure of the Age‐Friendliness of Health Care.

MEDICAL care for older people; QUESTIONNAIRES; OUTPATIENT medical care; HEALTH outcome assessment; RESEARCH evaluation

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the validity and reliability of a patient‐reported measure of the "age‐friendliness" of health care. DESIGN: Based on four essential domains of high‐quality health care for older outpatients (Medications, Mobility, Mentation and "what Matters," i.e., the 4 M's), we drafted a five‐item questionnaire for older outpatients to rate the age‐friendliness of their health care. One question addressed each of the 4 M's; the fifth addressed the overall age‐friendliness of their care. After feedback from healthcare professionals, quality improvement experts, and a patient‐caregiver focus group, we revised the items to create the Age‐Friendliness Questionnaire (AFQ). SETTING We tested the AFQ by appending it to two surveys. PARTICIPANTS: Older outpatients in Idaho during July to October 2019: Survey 1, with 23 other items, was sent to 1,257 older patients who were medically complex; Survey 2, with 35 other items, was sent to 2,873 older patients who visited outpatient primary care providers (PCPs) during the specified time period. MEASUREMENTS: Respondents rated their providers' performance using a 1 to 5 ("never" to "always") scale for each of the five items (possible AFQ scores = 5–25). RESULTS: The response rates were 41.4% and 33.3%, respectively. In Survey 1, the mean AFQ score from patients who had received care from a geriatrics consult clinic was higher than that from patients who had received their care from PCPs (19.3 vs 15.6; P <.001), and AFQ scores correlated with other quality‐of‐care scores. In Survey 2, AFQ scores predicted respondents' likelihood of recommending their providers to others (P <.001). The AFQ exhibited high internal reliability (interitem correlations =.49–.77; Cronbach's α =.89). CONCLUSION: The AFQ appears to be a valid and reliable measure of the age‐friendliness of outpatient care for older patients, and it predicts the likelihood that they will recommend their providers to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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