title: Development and validation of an instrument measuring individual empowerment in relation to personal health care: the Health Care Empowerment Questionnaire (HCEQ).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire that measures the degree of individual empowerment in relation to personal health care and services.
  
  
  METHODS
  The questionnaire was developed by identifying individual empowerment indicators from the literature, generating corresponding items, and pretesting the tool with older persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Health Care Empowerment Questionnaire (HCEQ) was developed and validated with subjects participating in the Program of Research to Integrate Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy (PRISMA) in the Sherbrooke and Quebec City area.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight hundred seventy-three subjects agreed to participate, for a response rate of 56.28%. The mean ages of men and women were 81.1 and 82.4 years, respectively. Analysis. Factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory) determined the validity of the questionnaire, and the reliability was assessed using measures of internal consistency and temporal stability (test-retest).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The multidimensional nature of the concept of individual empowerment was confirmed by three factors that explain more than 68% of the total variance. The Cronhbach's alpha coefficient of internal consistency was .83 and the intraclass correlation coefficients (test-retest) was .70 (95% CI: .48-.83).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In light of these findings, the characteristics and multidimensional perspective of the HCEQ appear to be useful in advancing knowledge about individual empowerment in relation to personal health care and services.
authors.affiliation: Research Center on Aging, Sherbrooke Geriatric University Institute, Sherbrooke, Canada. maxine.gagnon@usherbrooke.ca
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gagnon
authors.forename: Réjean
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hibert
authors.forename: Micheline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dubé
authors.forename: Marie-France
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Dubois
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires