How reliable are selected scales from population-based health surveys? An analysis among seniors.
The objective of the study was to assess the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of selected scales from four national and provincial surveys used to study the health status of community-dwelling seniors. Items on physical impairment, psychological well-being, activities of daily living, chronic health problems, social support, and stressful life events were selected from these surveys and administered in a group of 1,054 seniors, aged 65 and over, living in Wellington County, Ontario. Each scale exhibited high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > or = 0.70) except for the stressful life events and social support scales. The intra-class coefficients (rho) for all scales were > 0.80. In addition, almost all single items measures used in this study also exhibited high test-retest reliability (kappa > 0.80) except for measures of perceived health status (kappa = 0.69) and availability of help in crisis situation (kappa = 0.48).
Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Ontario. praina@sunnyhill.bc.ca
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P
Raina
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Bonnett
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D
Waltner-Toews
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C
Woodward
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T
Abernathy
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*