Reliability and validity of the Korean version of the way-finding effectiveness scale for persons with dementia

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Way-finding Effectiveness Scale (WES) for Korean persons with dementia (PWDs).

A descriptive, cross-sectional survey method was used.

Data were collected with a non-probability sampling strategy using structured format face-to-face interviews. A convenience sample of 83 community-dwelling PWDs and their family caregivers were recruited. The participants were PWDs who were over 60 years of age, had been medically diagnosed with dementia or showed signs and symptoms of dementia, had a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of less than 24 of 30 and were independent in walking.

Internal consistency for the 29-item KWES was 0.93 and exceeded 0.70 for the four subscales (complex way-finding goals, CWG; analytic strategy, AS; global strategy, GS; and simple way-finding goals, SWG). The intercorrelations for total KWES and subscales demonstrated a high to moderate relationship ranging from 0.84 (total and CWG) to 0.24 (AS and SWG). Pearson correlations between each subscale scores of the KWES and K-MMSE demonstrated significant, moderate relationships ranging from 0.41 (CWG and K-MSE) to 0.28 (AS and K-MMSE). Differences in current and prior behaviour of KWES were significant for the total (t = -21.00, p < 0.001) and subscales (t = -28.33--9.33, p < 0.001).

Acceptable reliabilities and validities support the conclusion that the KWES is a valid and reliable instrument for examining way-finding effectiveness for Korean PWDs.

The KWES will contribute to the development of understanding of way-finding ability for community-dwelling PWDs in both research and clinical practices.