2023/06/07 by Luana Karoline Ferreira, Juliana Fernandes Filgueiras Meireles, Grace Angélica de Oliveira Gomes +1
Health Professions · Psychology · #Aging and Gerontology Research #Health and Wellbeing Research #Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/00315125231182173
crossref issued 2023/06/07 · crossref published 2023/06/07 · crossref published-online 2023/06/07 · openalex publication_date 2023/06/07 · crossref created 2023/06/07 · crossref published-print 2023/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Brazil is experiencing an accelerated period of population aging, with important implications for individuals, families, and the society at large. Lifestyles for the elderly can have both positive and negative health effects and are characterized by behaviors that individuals constantly reproduce in day-to-day life. However, few assessment instruments are aimed at evaluating lifestyles, and this has hampered research development. Thus, our aim in this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric qualities of a new instrument to assess older adults' lifestyles. We developed this single scale to assess the lifestyles of older men and women using the sequential mixed method. Individuals over 60 years old of both sexes participated in this study of several phases. In Phase 1, we produced a 96-item single scale instrument, based on a literature review, previous scales, and qualitative research. In Phase 2, we verified the scale's content validity with help from 12 experts and 20 members of a target audience, aged between 60-84 years, deleting some items and reworking others. In Phase 3, we analyzed the psychometric qualities of the new scale in a sample of 700 older adults, aged 60 and above, from the five regions of Brazil, using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Our completed "Older Adult Lifestyle Scale" (OALS) is composed of 19 items divided into four subscales. The OALS has shown good psychometric qualities for Brazilian older adults over 60 years of age, and we can now recommend its use in this population.