Alternative scoring for Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE).
BACKGROUND
Studies assessing physical functioning with the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) should be aware that the instrument may be age and culture insensitive.


OBJECTIVE
To asses "classical" PASE scoring in a sample of aged (mean age 74) Mexican origin Latinos in the Southwestern United States and provide a new scoring algorithm.


METHODS
Information from a cross sectional study of 2438 community-dwelling minority subjects who completed the PASE scale was scored with the classical and a new scoring approach to compare their similarity and predictive power on three items of functional ability.


RESULTS
The classical and new scoring procedures for PASE items render different total scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The classical approach for scoring PASE in aged minorities may fail to capture the age and culture insensitivity of the instrument. The new approach, or a derivation of it, should be used to compute the total PASE score for minority aged populations as further research continues.
Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA. casiordi@utmb.edu
Carlos
C
Siordia
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054521:Cultural Competency; D015444:Exercise; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015206:Southwestern United States