title: Questionnaire-based evaluation of everyday competence in older adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gerontological research aims at understanding factors that are crucial for mediating "successful aging". This term denotes the absence of significant disease and disabilities, maintenance of high levels of physical and cognitive function, and preservation of social and productive activities. Preservation of an active lifestyle is considered an effective means through which everyday competence can be attained. In this context, it is crucial to obtain ratings of modern day older adults' everyday competence by means of appropriate assessments. Here, we introduce the Everyday Competence Questionnaire (ECQ), designed to assess healthy older adults' everyday competence.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ECQ includes 17 items, covering housekeeping, leisure activities, sports, daily routines, manual skills, subjective well-being, and general linguistic usage. The ECQ was administered to a population of 158 healthy subjects aged 60-91 years, who were divided into groups on the basis of their physical activity. These groups were community-dwelling subjects, those living independently and having a sedentary lifestyle, those living independently but characterized by a general lifestyle without any noteworthy physical activity, and those living independently and exercising regularly. Age, gender, and education levels were balanced between the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using the ECQ, we could identify and distinguish different everyday competence levels between the groups tested: Subjects characterized by an active lifestyle outperformed all other groups. Subjects characterized by a general lifestyle showed higher everyday competence than those with a sedentary lifestyle or subjects who needed care. Furthermore, the ECQ data showed a significant positive correlation between individual physical activity and everyday competence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ECQ is a novel tool for the questionnaire-based evaluation of everyday competence among healthy subjects. By including leisure activities, it considers the changed living conditions of modern-day older adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, BG-Kliniken Bergmannsheil, Bochum, Germany. tobias.kalisch@rub.de
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kalisch
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.forename: Jan-Christoph
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kattenstroth
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kolankowska
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tegenthoff
authors.forename: Hubert R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Dinse
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013177:Sports; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*