Reliability of pictorial Longshi Scale for informal caregivers to evaluate the functional independence and disability

Abstract

Aim: The pictorial Longshi Scale was designed to assess patients' functional ability in the Chinese context, which is gradually used by some informal caregivers. However, its reliability compared with healthcare professionals has not been examined.

Design: A multi-centre cross-sectional study conducted in 24 Chinese hospitals.

Methods: We recruited patients undergoing rehabilitation treatment and informal caregiver dyads. Informal caregivers and healthcare professionals evaluated patients' functional ability using the Longshi Scale according to three levels (bedridden, domestic and community). The Kappa coefficient and McNemar-Bowker test were used to examine the consistency and accuracy between the two parallel assessments.

Results: This study involved 947 patients (mean age: 46.07 ± 11.72 years) and informal caregiver dyads (64.86 ± 12.94 years). Most patients were males (66.3%), while most caregivers were females (60.7%). Over 70% of patients and caregiver dyads had a secondary-school education and lower. Around 90% of caregivers were relatives (spouse, 42.8%; offspring, 20.7%; siblings: 13.3%; parent, 12.0%) of patients. The agreement in sub-levels of the Longshi Scale between caregivers and healthcare professionals ranges from 73%-89%, and the corresponding Kappa coefficients range from 0.504-0.786. Caregivers were more likely to assign fewer patients to the bedridden group and more to the domestic group than healthcare professionals. The subgroup analysis by education level indicated that the difference in assigning patients into three degrees of functional disability was only significant in those with primary-school education, while non-significant in those with secondary-school education and higher.

Conclusion: The evaluation outcomes of functional ability using the Longshi Scale are similar between informal caregivers and healthcare professionals. However, informal caregivers' education level is a dominant factor in affecting the assessment accuracy compared with healthcare professionals. Informal caregivers with a secondary-school education and higher are supported to evaluate patients' functional ability independently.

Keywords: Longshi scale; functional ability; healthcare professional; informal caregiver.