A researcher plans to use a proxy variable to measure the concept of patient outcome. Which of the following would be an appropriate variable to use?
A) Length of stay in hospital
B) Medicare eligibility
C) Falls risk
D) Staffing ratios
A
Feedback:
A proxy variable is a measurable variable that stands in place of the variable of interest. The variable of interest is sometimes impractical to measure because of technical difficulty, excessive expense, ambiguity, abstraction, or multiple facets. In the case of patient outcome, the concept has too many facets to allow a practical enquiry. Length of hospital stay is often chosen when rapidity of response to the pre-morbid state is the study's principal focus. Eligibility for Medicare, staffing ratios, and falls risk are not outcomes: they are, according to Donabedian's framework, structures of care
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