[The behavior rating scale for intramural psychogeriatric inpatients (GIP-28) in homes for the elderly. A psychometric evaluation].

The GIP-28 is the shortened version of the 82-item Behavior Rating Scale for Psychogeriatric Inpatients. Originally it was meant and psychometrically evaluated for use in psychogeriatric and elderly psychiatric inpatients. We supposed that the GIP-28 might be useful to detect psychosocial and cognitive problems in residents of homes for the elderly. It was therefore tested in 15 residential homes (n = 949). The instrument consists of three, factor-analytically derived, scales: 'Apathy', 'Cognition' and 'Affect'. These three principal components were also identified in the data of the inhabitants of the residential homes. Internal consistency of the scales, as measured with Cronbach's Alpha is .75, .66, .80 respectively. Construct validity of the GIP-28 is satisfactory: the correlation between the Affect scale and the GDS was .36 and between the Cognition scale and the MMSE was -.36. The GIP-28 was associated with another observation scale for care needs (r = .54). The GIP-28 can be used to detect mental health problems in the population of residential homes. However, it is neither meant nor suited to replace psychiatric diagnostic procedures.