title: Nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards aged sexuality: validity and internal consistency of the Dutch version of the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper reports a study testing the content and face validity and internal consistency of the Dutch version of the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The ability of older residents to sexually express themselves is known to be influenced by the knowledge and attitudes of nursing home staff towards later-life sexuality. Although the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale is a widely used instrument to measure this, there is no validated, Dutch translation available.
  
  
  METHODS
  Instrument development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Following a standard forward/backward translation into Dutch, the scale was further adapted for use in Flemish nursing home settings. Content and face validity and user-friendliness were assessed. The psychometric properties were determined by means of an exploratory study. Data were collected from March-April 2011 at eight Flemish nursing homes. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency and item-total correlations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both subscales of the Flemish adaptation showed acceptable content validity. The face validity and user-friendliness were deemed favourable with hardly any remarks given by the expert panel. The Cronbach's α was 0.80 and 0.88 for the knowledge and attitude subscales, respectively. The item-total correlations ranged from 0.21-0.48 for the knowledge section and from 0.09-0.68 for the attitude subscale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude from our study that the Dutch version of the scale has acceptable to good psychometric properties. The Flemish adaptation therefore seems to be a valuable instrument for studying nursing staff's knowledge and attitudes towards aged sexuality in Flanders.
authors: Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Lieslot
authors: L
authors: Mahieu
authors: Bernadette Dierckx
authors: BD
authors: de Casterlé
authors: Kim
authors: K
authors: Van Elssen
authors: Chris
authors: C
authors: Gastmans
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019529:Sexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale; instrument development; intimacy; nursing staff; older people; psychometric properties; sexuality