Interviewing elderly in nursing homes: Respondent and survey characteristics as predictors of item nonresponse

Abstract

Survey methodology is applied regularly in medical, nursing or social science studies examining elderly populations. Research in nursing home residents, where age-related or pathological declines in cognitive function are highly prevalent, faces several methodological challenges. The quality of survey data may be subject to population-specific measurement errors. In this article, data of two studies about pain in nursing homes are used to examine which respondent-, survey- and item characteristics predict item nonresponse. Chances for non-substantial answers are higher for older residents, for females and for those with more cognitive impairment. If residents are in pain, valid answers are more likely. Chances for item nonresponse are less if interviewed by interviewers who are familiar to the respondents. Nonresponse increases with question length and order, and in case questions were preceded by a filter. Less nonresponse is observed for dichotomous answer formats and in case more words per answer were used. These effects are considerably influenced by the respondents’ cognitive state and capacity. Results let us assume that respondent, interviewer and item characteristics affect the data quality in nursing home populations significantly.