title: Development and Initial Reliability Testing of NAK-50+: A Nutrition Attitude and Knowledge Questionnaire for Adults 50+ Years of Age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Few questionnaires to test nutrition knowledge and attitudes of older adults living independently in the community have been developed and tested to assess self-management tools such as Nutri-eSCREEN and other education programs. This study is a first step in the development of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the nutrition knowledge and attitudes of independent older adults (NAK-50+).
  
  
  METHODS
  The steps involved in this study were: (i) drafting initial questions based on the content of the Nutri-eSCREEN education material, (ii) using cognitive interviewing to determine if these questions were understandable and relevant (n = 9 adults ≥50 years of age), and (iii) completing test-retest reliability in a convenient community sample (n = 60 adults ≥50 years of age). Intra-class coefficients (ICC) and kappa were used to determine reliability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 33-item questionnaire resulted from this development and analysis. ICC for the total score was 0.68 indicating good agreement and thus initial reliability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NAK-50+ is a face valid and reliable questionnaire that assesses nutrition knowledge and attitudes in independent adults aged ≥50 years. Further work to determine construct validity and to refine the questionnaire is warranted. Availability of the questionnaire for this age group will support rigorous evaluation of education and self-management interventions for this segment of the population.
authors.affiliation: a Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ducak
authors.affiliation: b Applied Health Sciences, Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keller
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires