Urdu translation and psychometric analysis of the physical activity scale for elderly (PASE)

To translate and culturally adapt the Physical Activity Scale for Elderly into Urdu, and to assess reliability and validity.

The descriptive, analytical study was conducted from March 2023 to January 2024 at Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised healthy individuals of either gender aged at least 60 years who were enrolled from the Safari Hospital, Islamabad. The Physical Activity Scale for Elderly was tested for validity and reliability, while its translation and cultural adaptation were done in accordance with the Consensus-Based Standards for the Selection of Health Status Measurement Instruments guidelines. For face and content validity, Percent Agreement and Content Validity Index at scale and item levels were determined. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess concurrent validity. Data was analysed using SPSS 27.

Of the 300 subjects, 163(54.3%) were males and 137(45.7%) were females. The overall mean age was 65.71±5.82 years (range: 60-80 years). Intraclass Correlation Coefficient 0.98 showed outstanding test-retest reliability. Cronbach's alpha value was 0.98 for the total, and for the items it was 0.99, 0.99 and 1. Face validity items 4, 7 and 9(a, d) were answered by 12 experts and 11(92%) of them answered in the affirmative, while items 1-3, 5- 9(b, c) and 10 were answered in the affirmative by 12(100%). Content validity index at item level was >0.9, and at scale it was 0.76. Concurrent Validity, Pearson correlation coefficient values were 0.78 for Berg Balance Scale-Urdu, and 0.74 for Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale-Urdu, showing a strong positive correlation, while there was a very strong negative correlation with Time Up and Go Test (-0.70) and Five Times Sit To Stand test (-0.71). Principal Component Analysis revealed 4 factors based on eigenvalues >1 for the Urdu version of Physical Activity Scale for Elderly, with (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin's value 0.708. These 4 components explained 68.31% of total variance.

The Urdu version of the Physical Activity Scale for Elderly was found to be a valid and reliable tool for evaluating physical activity level in older Pakistani adults.