title: Factor analysis of a health-promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP): application to older adults in Mainland China.
abstract: This research reports preliminary psychometric properties, especially the factor structure, of a Chinese version of a health-promoting lifestyles profile designed for older adults; and examines the distribution of the health-promoting behavioral patterns - both for the purpose of developing culturally sensitive health advancement strategies for Chinese seniors. Responses to this questionnaire were used to measure health-promoting behaviors in a random sample of 1012 elderly Chinese from thirty communities in Xi'an Shaanixi-Province.
  
  
  METHODS
  Factor analysis relied on polychoric correlations with ordinal categorical data were used to evaluate reliability and validity of a revised Chinese version of the health-promoting lifestyles profile (HPLP-C). Because this revised version was used to assess elderly adults, we termed it the HPLP-CE. This factor analysis supported a six-factor model of the original HPLP-C scale. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit, with factors explaining 88.1% of the common variance of the HPLP-CE scores. Cronbach's α coefficients were 0.91 for the revised instrument, and ranged from 0.67 to 0.88 for six dimensions. The split-half reliability was 0.92, while the test-retest reliability was 0.68. Relationships between HPLP-CE, perceived health status, SF-36 scale scores, and associations with selected demographic variables were significantly positive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that this revised scale, based on the 40-item HPLP-C, was considered suitable for measuring health-promoting lifestyles of older adults in China. Mental and inner self-reflection planes were the most salient factors for assessing health-promoting behaviors of seniors. Such factors need to be considered if preventive programs are to be designed to promote seniors' health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Statistics, Fourth Military Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Chang-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Yun-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yong-Yong
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qian-Zhen
authors.initials: QZ
authors.lastname: Hua
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires