Construct validation and test-retest reliability of the seniors in the community: risk evaluation for eating and nutrition questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
We performed two studies. Study 1 was a construct validation of Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition (SCREEN), a 15-item questionnaire for assessing nutritional risk. In Study 2, we examined the test-retest reliability of SCREEN.


METHODS
Study 1 was a cross-sectional study, and Study 2 was a cohort study. For Study 1, ten diverse community sites were used to recruit participants. A total of 128 older adults attended a clinic to provide medical and nutritional history and anthropometric measurements. A dietitian interviewed each participant. Dietitians used clinical judgment to rate the probability of nutritional risk from 1 (low risk) to 10 (high risk). Spearman's rho correlation and receiver operating characteristic curves were completed. An abbreviated SCREEN was developed through multiple linear regression analysis. In Study 2, SCREEN was randomly distributed to members of a seniors' recreation center where a self-selected sample (n = 124) completed two mailed SCREENs, 4 weeks apart. The test-retest reliability was estimated through paired correlations of total scores and individual items.


RESULTS
In Study 1, total and abbreviated SCREEN scores were significantly associated with the dietitian nutritional risk rating (rho = -.47 and rho = -.60, respectively). Study 2 revealed that the test-retest reliability of SCREEN was adequate.


CONCLUSIONS
SCREEN appears to be a valid and reliable tool for identifying community-dwelling older adults at risk for impaired nutritional states.
Keller
H H
HH
Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada. hkeller@uoguelph.ca
McKenzie
J D
JD
Goy
R E
RE
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012306:Risk