Gerontology & Geriatric Research

Abstract

Design and Validation of the VIDA Questionnaire, for Assessing Instrumental Activities of Daily Living In Elderly People

Inaki Martin-Lesende, Kalliopi Vrotsou, Itziar Vergara, Andoni Bueno, Ana Isabel Diez, Jazmina Nuñez, Inmaculada Sanchez C and Pilar Lopetegui

The detection of frailty in a community setting requires tools that assess the early stages of functional decline. For this reason, it is important to have adequate scales to assess instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the development of a questionnaire (VIDA) for assessing IADL in elderly people in primary care settings and in the community, and its current level of validation. Using a Delphi study, 10 items were selected for the questionnaire, each with 3- or 4-point Likert scale response options, summing to a total score of 10 to 38 points. No gender bias was detected and the completion time was 3 to 5 minutes. The questionnaire has a high inter- and intrarater reliability, with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.88-0.97, p<0.0001) and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93-0.98, p<0.0001), respectively. It has good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.94, and the most recent studies suggest that it is moderately sensitivity to change. It also has adequate construct validity, with correlations between items >0.40, except for the item “maintaining social relationships” which has a lower factor loading and correlation than the others. The VIDA questionnaire is relatively well correlated with other instruments assessing functioning (Lawton and Brody index and the Timed Up and Go test).