title: Development and Validation of a Measure of Quality of Life for the Young Elderly in Sri Lanka.
abstract: Sri Lanka has one of the fastest aging populations in the world. Measurement of quality of life (QoL) in the elderly needs instruments developed that encompass the sociocultural settings. An instrument was developed to measure QoL in the young elderly in Sri Lanka (QLI-YES), using accepted methods to generate and reduce items. The measure was validated using a community sample. Construct, criterion and predictive validity and reliability were tested. A first-order model of 24 items with 6 domains was found to have good fit indices (CMIN/df = 1.567, RMR = 0.05, CFI = 0.95, and RMSEA = 0.053). Both criterion and predictive validity were demonstrated. Good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.93) was shown. The development of the QLI-YES using a societal perspective relevant to the social and cultural beliefs has resulted in a robust and valid instrument to measure QoL for the young elderly in Sri Lanka.
authors.affiliation: University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka desilva_padmal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sudirikku Hennadige Padmal
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: de Silva
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Anura Rohan
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Jayasuriya
authors.affiliation: University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Lalini Chandika
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Rajapaksa
authors.affiliation: University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Ambepitiyawaduge Pubudu
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: de Silva
authors.affiliation: La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barraclough
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013188:Sri Lanka; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Sri Lanka; instrument development; quality of life; structured equation modeling (SEM); tool validation and young elderly