Content Validation of the Proactive Health Intentions Scale for Pre-Frailty Older Adults: A Delphi Study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Pre-frail older adults face significant health risks.
• Promoting proactive health behaviors is vital for healthy aging in this demographic.
• Existing measures may not adequately capture health intentions in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a theory-driven scale measuring proactive health intentions.
• To establish content validity for a scale tailored to pre-frail older adults.
• To provide a reliable tool for assessing health intentions in older adults.

Main Methods:

• A two-round Delphi study involving 16 and 15 experts, respectively.
• The scale development was grounded in the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).
• Content validity was assessed via expert consensus (≥70% agreement on relevance).

Main Results:

• High expert engagement (44.4% Round 1 response, 93.8% retention) and authority (Cr=0.88).
• 49 out of 52 items (94.2%) met the validity criterion.
• The final 50-item scale covers five TPB dimensions: past behavior, intention, attitude, norms, and perceived control.

Conclusions:

• A 50-item Proactive Health Intention Scale with excellent content validity was successfully developed.
• This robust, theory-informed scale is suitable for measuring proactive health intentions in pre-frail older adults.
• The scale can aid researchers and clinicians in assessing intentions, identifying barriers, and designing interventions.