Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montreal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Physiother Theory Pract. 2010 Apr 22;26(3):173-83. doi: 10.3109/09593980902750725.
The GEM scale is an objective assessment tool evaluating walking safety of elderly individuals. It includes 33 walking items divided into three subscales (A, B, and C). The purpose of this study was to estimate the internal consistency and factorial validation of the scale. Seventy-four subjects (> or = 65 years) recruited from geriatric units were assessed by a total of 11 physical therapists. The internal consistency data were analyzed by using the Cronbach alpha coefficient. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to analyze the factorial structure of the scale and determine the construct validation. The internal consistency for the three subscales revealed high Cronbach alpha (subscales A = 0.90; B = 0.76, and C = 0.85). The preliminary analyses of the factorial validation did not confirm the original structure of the scale. For subscales A and B, a three-factor solution was supported by the analyses and explained 61% of the total variance. For subscale C, a four-factor solution was extracted and explained 87% of the total variance. The three subscales showed excellent item homogeneity. The factorial validation results support a new structure for the GEM scale regrouping the items in two sub-scales under different factors. The reorganization of the walking items into representative factors will allow a better understanding and interpretation of the scale.
GEM 量表是一种用于评估老年人步行安全性的客观评估工具。它包含 33 项步行项目，分为三个分量表（A、B 和 C）。本研究旨在评估该量表的内部一致性和因子验证。共有 74 名（≥65 岁）来自老年科病房的受试者接受了 11 名物理治疗师的评估。使用 Cronbach alpha 系数分析内部一致性数据。进行探索性因子分析以分析量表的因子结构并确定结构效度。三个分量表的内部一致性显示出较高的 Cronbach alpha 值（分量表 A = 0.90；B = 0.76，C = 0.85）。因子验证的初步分析并未证实该量表的原始结构。对于分量表 A 和 B，分析支持三因素解决方案，解释了总方差的 61%。对于分量表 C，提取了四因素解决方案，解释了总方差的 87%。三个分量表显示出良好的项目同质性。因子验证结果支持 GEM 量表的新结构，将项目重新组合为两个分量表下的不同因子。将步行项目重新组织到有代表性的因子中，将有助于更好地理解和解释量表。
