[Self-care: New evidence for its measurement in older adults]

Abstract

Introduction: A major challenge in today's society is getting older people, not only live longer, but to have a better life, and achieve successful aging. Self-care has been identified as relevant construct in its relation to physical, psychological, and social health. Therefore, this paper aims to provide first evidence of the psychometric properties of a scale to assess self-care in older people.

Material and methods: The sample consisted of 443 people aged between 60 and 80years (M=66.11, SD=4.72), all of them currently participating in lifelong learning programs. There were 64.2% women, and most participants were married (73.7%). They were asked to complete the Self-Care for Older People Scale (SCOPS), the SF-8 Health Perception scale and, the Life Satisfaction scale (SWLS). Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis, and scale correlations between self-care and variables from its nomological network.

Results and conclusions: The tested model provided an adequate fit to the data: χ²(23)=64.257 (P<.001); comparative fit index (CFI)=.936; Tucker Lewis Index (TLI) =.899; standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) =.070; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) =.064 (.046-.083), supporting the original structure of three factors: physical, social, and internal self-care. These factors also showed statistically significant correlations with two important variables of their nomological network, perceived health and life satisfaction.

Keywords: Aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida; Envejecimiento con éxito; Life satisfaction; Lifelong learning; Older adults; Perceived health; Personas mayores; Salud percibida; Satisfacción con la vida; Successful aging.