The GERI-AIMS. Reliability and validity of the arthritis impact measurement scales adapted for elderly respondents.

We adapted the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS) for use with frail elderly respondents. The new instrument, called the GERI-AIMS, generates both generic and arthritis-specific impairment scores, to control for comorbid conditions that are commonly found in an older population. An analysis of scores obtained on 438 elderly persons (mean age 76) indicated that more than half of the total disability measured by the generic GERI-AIMS scores is related to arthritis. The GERI-AIMS scales have standardized-item alpha levels >0.70 and correlate well with clinical measures of arthritis severity. Information gained by using the GERI-AIMS has important public policy implications, insofar as information on both generic and diseasespecific functional impairment is needed to establish priorities for basic research, epidemiologic, and intervention studies.