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Demographic characteristics do not decrease the utility of depressive symptoms assessments: Examining the practical impact of item bias in four heterogeneous samples of older adults
- Source :
- International journal of geriatric psychiatry, vol 30, iss 1
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- ObjectivePrevious studies have identified differential item function (DIF) in depressive symptoms measures, but the impact of DIF has been rarely reported. Given the critical importance of depressive symptoms assessment among older adults, we examined whether DIF due to demographic characteristics resulted in salient score changes in commonly used measures.MethodsFour longitudinal studies of cognitive aging provided a sample size of 3754 older adults and included individuals both with and without a clinical diagnosis of major depression. Each study administered at least one of the following measures: the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (20-item ordinal response or 10-item dichotomous response versions), the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. Hybrid logistic regression-item response theory methods were used to examine the presence and impact of DIF due to age, sex, race/ethnicity, and years of education on the depressive symptoms items.ResultsAlthough statistically significant DIF due to demographic factors was present on several items, its cumulative impact on depressive symptoms scores was practically negligible.ConclusionsThe findings support substantive meaningfulness of previously reported demographic differences in depressive symptoms among older adults, showing that these individual differences were unlikely to have resulted from item bias attributable to demographic characteristics we examined.
- Subjects :
- Male
CES-D
MADRS
Aging
Differential item function
Clinical Sciences
GDS
Neuropsychological Tests
Article
depressive symptoms
Bias
Clinical Research
80 and over
Psychology
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Item bias
Geriatric Assessment
Aged
Demography
Aged, 80 and over
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Depressive Disorder
Depression
Middle Aged
Brain Disorders
Mental Health
Logistic Models
Geriatrics
Cognitive Sciences
Female
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International journal of geriatric psychiatry, vol 30, iss 1
- Accession number :
- edsair.pmid.dedup....71b536165f438f307ec7507428112cb5