title: Construct validity of the Nursing Care Dependency Scale.
abstract: This paper describes the results of a study determining construct validity aspects of the Nursing Care Dependency (NCD) Scale. This 15-item instrument has been developed recently for the assessment of the care dependency of dementia or learning-disabled inpatients. Data was collected for 450 dementia and 203 learning-disabled patients using the NCD instrument. Factor analysis of the NCD instrument resulted in one Factor. With Mokken scale analysis an H-coefficient of 0.75 was found, which implied a strong hierarchical scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.97) were high enough to use the NCD instrument in clinical practice, at both group and individual levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Buist
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moorer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dassen
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing*; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index