Development of a Social Activities Scale for Community-Dwelling Older Women Requiring Support in Japan: A Preliminary Study.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale for measuring the social activities of community-dwelling older women requiring support in Japan.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

A methodological study was performed of 118 older women (>65 years old) requiring support and residing in region A of Japan.

MEASURES

An anonymous questionnaire was administered through individual interviews, and valid responses were obtained from 110 people. The construct validity of the resulting scale was assessed by exploratory factor analysis. Criterion-related validity was tested by calculating Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between the resulting scale and the existing Social Activity Index for Elderly People (SAI-E). Reliability was tested by Cronbach's alpha coefficient.

RESULTS

The Social Activity Scale for Community-Dwelling Older Women Requiring Support (SASOWS) was created. This scale comprised the following three subscales: "interactions with familiar people," "consulting with care service providers," and "performing proactive creative activities at home". Correlation of SASOWS with the existing SAI-E resulted in a correlation coefficient of .521 (p < .01). Cronbach's alpha for the entire scale was .772, and internal consistency was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

SASOWS appears to be a reliable, valid, and useful scale to measure social activities specific for older women requiring support. Future studies should continue to examine the items and usefulness of this scale.