Modernising functional independence measurement: Validation of a Contemporary Extended Activities of Daily Living scale in a mixed sample

ObjectiveTo validate a previously described 5-item short-form Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living and assess the properties of incorporating contemporary tasks to create a novel Contemporary Extended Activities of Daily Living scale.DesignValidation study.SettingConducted through an online questionnaire.ParticipantsAdults over 60 years of age, living with a chronic condition or receiving care, caregivers, and healthcare providers.Main measuresWe assessed internal consistency of each scale using Cronbach's alpha. Additionally, criterion validity and convergent validity of the short-form and contemporary scales were assessed using Spearman's correlation analyses with the original 22-item Nottingham scale, and with quality of life measured by the European Quality of Life 5-dimension scale.ResultsAcross 712 participants (n = 256, 36% with a chronic condition), both the short-form Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living scale (α = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.82-0.86) and a novel Contemporary Extended Activities of Daily Living scale (α = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.87-0.89) had good internal consistency. The short-form scale had excellent concurrent validity (rs = 0.82, p < .00). Each contemporary item was correlated with the original Nottingham scale, and the full Contemporary scale had good concurrent validity (rs = 0.78, p < .001). Both scales had moderate construct validity in relation to quality of life (short-form Nottingham scale rs = 0.68, p < .001, contemporary scale rs = 0.56, p ≤ .001).ConclusionsOur initial evaluation of a Contemporary Extended Activities of Daily Living scale shows that construct validity is not compromised by the inclusion of contemporary tasks. Future research is needed to account for the diversity of activity patterns to improve the perceived relevance of scales assessing functional outcomes.