Psychometric properties of the CASP-12 in a Spanish older community dwelling sample

Current studies have shown that older people's quality of life (QoL) is more associated to individual's sense of happiness and subjective life satisfaction than to objective problems. CASP scale conceptualizes QoL based on a psycho-sociological perspective. Originally, CASP consisted of 19 items (four factors: Control, Autonomy, Self-realization and Pleasure). Later, it was proposed a shorter version (12 items and three factors). The aim of this study was to assess the structure of the CASP-12 SHARE version using confirmatory factor analysis.

The CASP structures traditionally proposed were checked and tested in a sample of 1108 people aged 60 years and over.

The three factor model (1) pleasure, (2) self-realization and (3) autonomy and control showed a good overall fit (CFI = .932; TLI = .912; RMSEA = .067). An adequate internal consistency was also obtained.

This is the first study that explored the psychometric properties and validated the well-fitting three factor structure for the CASP-12 in a large population sample of older people from Spain. The results support a multidimensional model for the CASP-12 composed by three factors. It has potential to be used as a multidimensional tool to assess QoL in older people.