Psychometric Properties of a Scale to Assess the Severity of Bathing Disability

Box plots showing the distribution of scores on the bathing disability scale at 36 and 54 months for the first analytic sample and at 54 and 72 months for the second analytic sample. The lower border, midline, and upper border of each box represent the twenty-fifth percentile, median, and seventy-fifth percentile scores, respectively. The line from each box extends to the highest score. The “+” denotes the mean score.

Changes in scores on the bathing disability scale between 36 and 54 months for the first analytic sample and between 54 and 72 months for the second analytic sample. Changes were categorized as none (0 points) versus small (1−2), moderate (3−5), or large (6 or more) decline or improvement.

Associations between changes in scores on bathing disability scale and the occurrence of an intervening hospitalization according to the time prior to the follow-up assessment at 54 and 72 months, respectively, for the first and second analytic samples. An intervening hospitalization was defined as a hospital admission that occurred between the specific month and follow-up assessment. Because the 72-month follow-up assessment was delayed for some participants, data points are included at 19 and 20 months for sample 2.