Development of the Physiological-Psychological-Social Three-dimensional Human Ageing Scale for older people

Abstract

Objectives: Ageing is related to physical, psychological and social conditions. The aim of this study was to develop a scale that comprehensively assesses these three dimensions to reflect the ageing state of the human body.

Study design: The study design of this study is a cross-sectional study.

Methods: The items for the preliminary scale were selected from relevant high-quality literature. The preliminary scale was developed by experts through two rounds of the Delphi method. The analytic hierarchy process was used to determine the weights of the items. Cronbach's α, the test-retest reliability, the content validity index and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the scale.

Results: This study developed the Physiological-Psychological-Social Three-dimensional Human Ageing Scale (PPSHAS), which includes 3 dimensions, 10 components and 51 items. The Cronbach's α of the PPSHAS was 0.930, and the test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.856 (P < 0.001). The scale-level content validity index/universal agreement was 0.82, and the scale-level content validity index/average was 0.98. The EFA yielded 10 components; the total variance explained by these components was 57.491%.

Conclusions: This PPSHAS is an easy-to-use instrument for assessing the ageing process among elderly people and has adequate validity and reliability.

Keywords: Ageing; Geriatric assessment; Growth and development; Scale development; Surveys and questionnaires.