The utility of an improved readability short form of the MMPI with elderly male patients.

Compared an improved readability short form of the MMPI (IRF) with the FAM and the MMPI-168 in a sample of 100 male veterans, aged 60 and over. The three forms were found to perform acceptably well in terms of measures commonly used to evaluate the statistical validity of MMPI short forms. Median correlations of short form estimates with the MMPI standard scales were .91, .90, and .89 for the FAM, MMPI-168, and the IRF, respectively. In comparison with the other two forms, the IRF was intermediate in the frequency of codetype matches, but was highest in rate of correct validity decisions. The IRF also showed the fewest significant differences between the means of the estimated MMPI scale scores and those that actually were obtained. It was concluded that although the results demonstrated no strong statistical advantage for any short form, the IRF, because of increased comprehensibility, might have a wider applicability, particularly among patients with whom short forms would be used most often.