Impact on Participation and Autonomy: Test of Validity and Reliability for Older Persons

Isabelle Ottenvall Hammar; Christina Ekelund; Katarina Wilhelmson; Kajsa Eklund

doi:10.4081/hpr.2014.1825

Impact on Participation and Autonomy: Test of Validity and Reliability for Older Persons

Health Psychol Res. 2014 Oct 22;2(3):1825. doi: 10.4081/hpr.2014.1825. eCollection 2014 Nov 6.

Authors

Isabelle Ottenvall Hammar, Christina Ekelund¹, Katarina Wilhelmson, Kajsa Eklund²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Vårdalinstitutet, The Swedish Institute for Health Sciences, Universities of Gothenburg and Lund, Sweden.
² Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Vårdalinstitutet, The Swedish Institute for Health Sciences, Universities of Gothenburg and Lund, Sweden; Centre of Aging and Health-AGE-CAP, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Abstract

In research and healthcare it is important to measure older persons' self-determination in order to improve their possibilities to decide for themselves in daily life. The questionnaire Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA) assesses self-determination, but is not constructed for older persons. The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the IPA-S questionnaire for persons aged 70 years and older. The study was performed in two steps; first a validity test of the Swedish version of the questionnaire, IPA-S, followed by a reliability test-retest of an adjusted version. The validity was tested with focus groups and individual interviews on persons aged 77-88 years, and the reliability on persons aged 70-99 years. The validity test result showed that IPA-S is valid for older persons but it was too extensive and the phrasing of the items needed adjustments. The reliability test-retest on the adjusted questionnaire, IPA- Older persons (IPA-O), showed that 15 of 22 items had high agreement. IPA-O can be used to measure older persons' self-determination in their care and rehabilitation.

Keywords: impact on participation and autonomy; occupational therapy; rehabilitation; self-determination; test-retest.

Grants and funding

Funding: this study was supported by grants from the Research and Development Council of the County of Gothenburg and South of Bohuslän and Vårdalinstitutet, the Swedish Institute for Health Sciences.