Validation of the Reactions to Ageing Questionnaire: assessing similarities across several countries.
With the increasing numbers of older adults, factors impacting the effectiveness of provision of health care must be addressed. The literature suggests attitudes, particularly those of nurses, impact health service provision. This article reports the outcome of a multicountry validation study of the Reactions to Ageing Questionnaire (RAQ). The RAQ measures attitudes toward personal aging and has been used in Australia for 5 years. This study was designed to determine whether the psychometric characteristics and norms of the RAQ identified for Australian nurses also apply to nursing samples in Sweden and the United Kingdom. Findings indicate the internal structure of the RAQ extends outside Australia, with similar factors appearing across the three countries. Ranges and standard deviations indicate the instrument is able to discriminate between respondents within each country. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were consistent across countries and fell in the moderately high range. The findings indicate the RAQ has many potential applications in attitude assessment and in providing direction for training designed to address attitudinal factors that may impact the effectiveness of nursing practice for older adults.
Research Centre for Adaptation in Health and Illness, Faculty of Nursing, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Lindsay
L
Gething
Judith
J
Fethney
Kevin
K
McKee
Lars-Olaf
LO
Persson
Marilyn
M
Goff
Margaret
M
Churchward
Slade
S
Matthews
Maud
M
Halvarsson
Ingrid
I
Johannsson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D001315:Australia; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D006113:United Kingdom