Clinimetric Evaluation of the Experienced Communication in Dementia Questionnaire

Abstract

Background and Objectives Tools to measure self-perceived communication between persons with early-stage dementia and their caregivers are lacking. Therefore, we developed a questionnaire for Experienced Communication in Dementia (ECD) with a patient version (ECD-P) and a caregiver version (ECD-C), that contains items on (1) caregiver competence, (2) social communication, (3) communication difficulties, and (4) experienced emotions. This article describes the feasibility and clinimetric evaluation of this instrument. Research Design and Methods A prospective observational cohort study was conducted with 57 dyads (community-dwelling person with dementia and primary caregiver). ECD-P, ECD-C, and measures on quality of life, caregiver burden, cognitive functioning, physical functioning, and functional independence were administered. After two weeks, the dyads filled out the ECD again. Feasibility (completion time and missing values per item), internal consistency (Cronbach’s α), test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs)) and construct validity (hypotheses testing with Spearman’s r) were evaluated. Results Mean completion time was ten minutes per questionnaire. ICCs for test-retest reliability ranged from 0.67 to 0.78, except for ECD-P2 (ICC = 0.31). Internal consistency ranged from α = 0.75 to 0.82 for ECD-P1 and all parts of ECD-C, except for ECD-P2 (α = 0.66). Correlation coefficients for convergent validity ranged from r = 0.31 to 0.69 and correlation coefficients for divergent validity were r < 0.20 and statistically insignificant. Discussion and Implications Pending future research, the ECD, except part ECD-P2, seems to be a promising tool to measure experienced communication between persons with early-stage dementia and their caregivers.

Com‐mens: a home‐based logopaedic intervention program for communication problems between people with dementia and their caregivers — a single‐group mixed‐methods pilot study

“…This is reversed for ECD-C2. Our clinimetric evaluation of the ECD (Olthof-Nefkens et al, 2021b) showed that the ECD takes about 10 min to complete. The ECD can be filled out independently or with assistance from the researcher if necessary.…”

“…We used two questionnaires, which we deemed sufficient for our purpose while being a minimal burden for the participants. The validated ECD was developed in close collaboration with people with dementia and their caregivers (Olthof-Nefkens et al, 2021a), and measures how these persons experience their communication (Olthof-Nefkens et al, 2021b). The ECD is available in two complementary versions: one for the person with dementia (ECD-P) and one for the informal caregiver (ECD-C).…”