Faculty Collaboration Database

Harmonizing Measures of Cognitive Performance Across International Surveys of Aging Using Item Response Theory. J Aging Health 2015 Dec;27(8):1392-414

Date

11/04/2015

Pubmed ID

26526748

Pubmed Central ID

PMC4834843

DOI

10.1177/0898264315583054

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84946146434 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   20 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To harmonize measures of cognitive performance using item response theory (IRT) across two international aging studies.

METHOD: Data for persons ≥65 years from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, N = 9,471) and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA, N = 5,444). Cognitive performance measures varied (HRS fielded 25, ELSA 13); 9 were in common. Measurement precision was examined for IRT scores based on (a) common items, (b) common items adjusted for differential item functioning (DIF), and (c) DIF-adjusted all items.

RESULTS: Three common items (day of date, immediate word recall, and delayed word recall) demonstrated DIF by survey. Adding survey-specific items improved precision but mainly for HRS respondents at lower cognitive levels.

DISCUSSION: IRT offers a feasible strategy for harmonizing cognitive performance measures across other surveys and for other multi-item constructs of interest in studies of aging. Practical implications depend on sample distribution and the difficulty mix of in-common and survey-specific items.

Author List

Chan KS, Gross AL, Pezzin LE, Brandt J, Kasper JD

Author

Liliana Pezzin PhD, JD Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Cognition
Female
Humans
Internationality
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Psychological Theory
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires
United Kingdom
United States