Psychometric properties and feasibility of the Swedish version of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale

Morale is related to psychological well-being and quality of life in older people. The Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (PGCMS) is widely used to assess morale. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and feasibility of the Swedish version of the 17-item PGCMS among very old people.

The Umeå 85+/GERDA study included Swedish-speaking people aged 85, 90 and 95 years and older, from Sweden and Finland. Participants were interviewed in their own homes using a predefined set of questions. In the main sample, 493 individuals answered all 17 PGCMS items (aged 89.0 ± 4.3 years). Another 105 answered between 1 and 16 questions (aged 89.6 ± 4.4 years). A convenience sample was also collected, and 54 individuals answered all 17 PGCMS items twice (aged 84.7 ± 6.7 years). The same assessor restated the questions within 1 week.

Cronbach's alpha was 0.74 among those who answered all 17 questions in the main sample. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the construct validity of the most widely used version of the PGCMS, with 17 items and three factors, and showed a generally good fit. Among those answering between 1 and 17 PGCMS questions, 92.6 % (554/598) answered 16 or 17. The convenience sample was used for intra-rater test-retesting, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.89. The least significant change between two assessments, with 95 % confidence interval, was 3.53 PGCMS points.

The Swedish version of the PGCMS seems to have satisfactory psychometric properties and feasibility among very old people.