Most Common Refusals of Personal Care in Advanced Dementia: Psychometric Properties of the Refusal of Care Informant Scale

Abstract

Refusals of care in dementia can be a source of distress for people with dementia and their caregivers. Informant-based measures to examine refusals of care are limited and often measure other behaviours such as agitation. We aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the newly developed, 14-item, Refusal of Care Informant Scale (RoCIS) and then use the scale to verify the most common refusal behaviours. Data from 129 dyads were analysed. Dyad was defined as a person with advanced dementia either living in a care home or supported in their own home and their caregiver. Data about the person with dementia were gathered using informant-based questionnaires. The psychometric properties of the RoCIS were investigated using Rasch analysis to determine validity and reliability. Following Rasch analysis, the item ‘upset’ was removed from the RoCIS. The reduced 13-item RoCIS is unidimensional and achieved a reliability index of 0.85 (Cronbach’s alpha 0.88). 68% of people with dementia had refused care in the last month, with ‘verbally refused’ the most common type of refusal behaviour. People in the ‘very severe/profound’ stage of dementia showed more refusal behaviours than those in the ‘severe’ stage. Results provide initial evidence that the RoCIS is a valid and reliable informant-based scale measuring refusals of care in advanced dementia. Results indicate a need to develop new approaches and techniques to make assistance with personal care more acceptable to people with dementia.