Development and psychometric evaluation of the sarcopenia prevention behavior adherence scale for older adults - a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND

Behavior adherence is essential to prevent the onset and development of sarcopenic disease in the older adults. However, to date there has been no appropriate scale to measure the level of sarcopenia prevention behavior adherence in older adults. This study aims to develop and psychometrically test sarcopenia prevention behavior adherence scale for older adults.

METHODS

The study was conducted in two phases: scale development and psychometric evaluation. scale development was based on literature review, expert consultation, and a pre-survey. Psychometric evaluation is based on the reliability and validity of large sample survey.

RESULTS

A 3-dimensions 18-items scale was developed, including diet behavior, exercise behavior, and resource utilization behavior.The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model, and the convergent and discriminant validity levels were satisfactory.The Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.921 and the content validity index was 0.957.

CONCLUSIONS

The scale developed in this study is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the level of behavior adherence to sarcopenia prevention for older adults.More studies are needed to examine the robustness of its structure.