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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Christopher Gray, Anthony Hildreth, Dr Janice O'Connell
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OBJECTIVES: To develop and evaluate a scale to quantify the presence and severity of symptoms arising from comorbid diseases in older people. DESIGN: A validation cohort study of hospital inpatients and outpatients aged 65 years and older. SETTING: A Hospital and community in Northeast England. PARTICIPANTS: Development of the Comorbidity Symptom Scale - Convenience sample of 50 hospital inpatients and outpatients aged 65 years and older. Evaluation of the Comorbidity Symptom Scale - Convenience sample of 183 patients aged 65 years and older either awaiting cataract surgery or attending a geriatric day hospital. MEASUREMENTS: For development of the Comorbidity Symptom Scale, 22 comorbid conditions were identified and incorporated into a questionnaire (the CmSS). Evaluation of the Comorbidity Symptom Scale - Assessments included the CmSS, activities of daily living, perceived health status, and anxiety and depression. RESULTS: A 23-item scale was developed. Reliability of the CmSS was demonstrated by a test-retest correlation coefficient for the total instrument score of r = 0. 87 (P < .001). The CmSS scores correlated with assessments of activities of daily living, perceived health status, and anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS: The CmSS is a simple interviewer-administered tool for use in older people and provides an objective measure of the presence of comorbid disease and the patient's perception of severity of associated symptoms.
Author(s): Gray CS; O'Connell JE; Hildreth AJ; Crabtree HL; Brown J
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Year: 2000
Volume: 48
Issue: 12
Pages: 1674-1678
ISSN (print): 0002-8614
ISSN (electronic): 1532-5415
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11129761
PubMed id: 11129761
