Department of Neurology, BG-Kliniken Bergmannsheil, Bochum, Germany.
Clin Interv Aging. 2011;6:37-46. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S15433. Epub 2011 Jan 26.
Gerontological research aims at understanding factors that are crucial for mediating "successful aging". This term denotes the absence of significant disease and disabilities, maintenance of high levels of physical and cognitive function, and preservation of social and productive activities. Preservation of an active lifestyle is considered an effective means through which everyday competence can be attained. In this context, it is crucial to obtain ratings of modern day older adults' everyday competence by means of appropriate assessments. Here, we introduce the Everyday Competence Questionnaire (ECQ), designed to assess healthy older adults' everyday competence.
The ECQ includes 17 items, covering housekeeping, leisure activities, sports, daily routines, manual skills, subjective well-being, and general linguistic usage. The ECQ was administered to a population of 158 healthy subjects aged 60-91 years, who were divided into groups on the basis of their physical activity. These groups were community-dwelling subjects, those living independently and having a sedentary lifestyle, those living independently but characterized by a general lifestyle without any noteworthy physical activity, and those living independently and exercising regularly. Age, gender, and education levels were balanced between the groups.
Using the ECQ, we could identify and distinguish different everyday competence levels between the groups tested: Subjects characterized by an active lifestyle outperformed all other groups. Subjects characterized by a general lifestyle showed higher everyday competence than those with a sedentary lifestyle or subjects who needed care. Furthermore, the ECQ data showed a significant positive correlation between individual physical activity and everyday competence.
The ECQ is a novel tool for the questionnaire-based evaluation of everyday competence among healthy subjects. By including leisure activities, it considers the changed living conditions of modern-day older adults.
老年学研究旨在理解对调节“成功老龄化”至关重要的因素。这个术语表示没有重大疾病和残疾，保持高水平的身体和认知功能，以及保持社会和生产活动。保持积极的生活方式被认为是获得日常能力的有效手段。在这种情况下，通过适当的评估来获得现代老年人日常能力的评分至关重要。在这里，我们引入了日常能力问卷（ECQ），旨在评估健康老年人的日常能力。
ECQ 包括 17 个项目，涵盖家务、休闲活动、运动、日常生活、手工技能、主观幸福感和一般语言使用。ECQ 对 158 名年龄在 60-91 岁的健康受试者进行了测试，这些受试者根据他们的身体活动分为不同的组。这些组是：居住在社区的受试者、独立生活且生活方式久坐不动的受试者、独立生活但生活方式一般且没有显著体力活动的受试者，以及独立生活且定期锻炼的受试者。年龄、性别和教育水平在组间平衡。
使用 ECQ，我们可以在测试组之间识别和区分不同的日常能力水平：生活方式积极的受试者表现优于其他所有组。生活方式一般的受试者的日常能力比生活方式久坐不动的受试者或需要照顾的受试者更高。此外，ECQ 数据显示个体身体活动与日常能力之间存在显著的正相关关系。
ECQ 是一种用于评估健康受试者日常能力的问卷评估新工具。通过包括休闲活动，它考虑了现代老年人生活条件的变化。
