Development and Content Validity of a Disability Self-Management Questionnaire for Hispanic Older Adults

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Rehabilitation Science
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Older adults with physical disabilities face challenges in daily living activities.
• Effective self-management strategies are crucial for maintaining function and independence.
• A validated Spanish-language instrument for assessing these strategies was lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and test the content validity of a Spanish version of the Self-Management of Function in Daily Living Activities Questionnaire (SF-DLAQ).
• To provide a culturally relevant tool for assessing self-management in Spanish-speaking older adults.

Main Methods:

• A methodological study utilized the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) model.
• Questionnaire design involved qualitative data from 24 older adults and 10 existing scales.
• Content validity was assessed by 8 aging experts using I-CVI, S-CVI, and kappa statistics.

Main Results:

• All expert judgments yielded favorable validity scores.
• Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) for clarity ranged from 0.09 to 1.0.
• Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) for relevancy, Scale-level CVI (S-CVI), and kappa statistic were all 1.0.

Conclusions:

• The Spanish version of the SF-DLAQ demonstrates adequate scale and item validity.
• Further testing is recommended to confirm the psychometric properties of the SF-DLAQ.
• This validated instrument can aid in assessing and supporting self-management in Spanish-speaking older adults.