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Everyday technology use among older adults in Sweden and Portugal
Ann-Helen Patomella1, Anders Kottorp1,2, Manuela Ferreira3
1a Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Occupational Therapy , Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.
Background:
Technology use is relevant for engaging in everyday occupations and aging in place and difficulties might limit participation.
Aim:
The aim of the present study was two-fold: to investigate the internal scale validity of the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (ETUQ) in a matched Portuguese and a Swedish sample of older adults without known cognitive impairments and to compare everyday technology use (i.e., the relevance of Everyday Technology (ET) and perceived difficulty of using ET).
Methods:
The Rasch rating scale model was used to investigate the psychometric properties of the data from the two countries. Analyses were then used to compare the samples.
Results:
There is evidence of internal scale and person response validity in the Swedish and Portuguese ETUQ datasets. The Swedish sample demonstrated almost 25% more ETs to be relevant, as compared to the Portuguese sample (p < .05). The samples' means of perceived difficulty in using ETs were similar.
Conclusions:
The results support that the ETUQ is a valid assessment for measuring the relevance of and perceived difficulty of ET use and is able to detect differences and similarities between older adults in these European countries in relation to ET use in the home and society.