Consumer Access, Appraisal, and Application of Services and Information for Dementia (CAAASI-Dem): a validation study.

The Consumer Access, Appraisal, and Application of Services and Information for Dementia (CAAASI-Dem) was developed to examine individuals' self-assessed confidence in their ability to access, appraise and use dementia services and information. The CAAASI-Dem is the only tool to date to measure this crucial component of dementia literacy. This study was designed to validate its structural validity. Data was collected from 3277 participants enrolled in an on-line dementia course. The five-factor structure of the CAAASI-Dem, which was derived from a previous exploratory factor analysis, was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. Internal reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and known-groups validity were assessed. The five-factor model demonstrated good fit with the observed data with the removal of 2 items and movement of 1 item across the factors. The resultant 24-item five-factor CAAASI-Dem showed very good sub-scale internal reliability and satisfactory convergent and divergent validity. There was good discrimination between groups of participants with different levels of care experience. The results provided evidence for the 24-item CAAASI-Dem as a valid and reliable five-dimensional scale. Limitations of the study are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research and practice.