Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Objective: The International Classification of Function is often used in older adult clinical assessments. Well recognized is the high value, and difficulty, of assessing participation in social roles. The PROMIS Ability to Participate in Social Roles (APSR) measure may augment assessments enhancing our understanding of older adults’ participation in social roles. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the APSR diverges with other clinical measures suggesting it is measuring a separate construct adding new information to the clinical assessment.

Methods: A sample of convenience of older adults (n = 89) was recruited and administered clinical assessments that include physical capacity and performance tests, activity data (e.g. wearable accelerometer), and other PROMIS physical health (physical function (PF), pain interference (PI) and fatigue) and mental health (General Self-Efficacy and Depression) measures. Analysis focused on 1) Whether these measures were correlated with the APSR measure; And, 2) whether APSR measure discriminated older adults at risk for falls, decreased mobility, hospitalization and mortality. Spearman Rho values from < 0.7 were classified as divergent. A combination of ttests and receiver operator curve analysis was used to assess the ability of the APSR to discriminate groups.

Results: The results showed 1) Significant weak correlations, suggesting divergence (< 0.7), between the APSR measure and physical capacity and performance tests; 2) No correlations of activity data variables with the APSR measure: And 3) weak and moderate correlations of PROMIS physical health measures with the APSR measure were considered divergent (< 0.7). The APSR measure showed medium to large effect sizes for discriminating older adults at risk for falls, decreased mobility, hospitalization mortality.

Conclusion: The APSR measure was sufficiently uncorrelated with clinical tests and other PROMIS measures to offer unique information regarding an older adult’s participation in social roles. Impact statement: This data encourages clinical measurement of social participation in older adults. The self-reported PROMIS APSR measure was supported as a potential measure of perceived social participation that augments current clinical assessment

Comments

Originally published in Jeff Houck, Christen Johnson, Theresa Raudsepp, Cindy Zablotny, Validity of the PROMIS ability to participate in social roles and activities measure in older adult health assessment, Advances in Patient-Reported Outcomes, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2026, 100331, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apro.2026.100331.

Published under a Creative Commons License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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