Development and validation of the successful aging quiz / by Christine A. Knight. --

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Successful Aging Quiz (SAQ), a 70-item, self-administered, multidimensional assessment instrument designed to measure domains related to healthy aging. This was accomplished through a series of four separate studies designed to elicit relevant psychometric information. Results revealed a 4-factor solution for the SAQ - Negative Orientation, Positive Orientation, Activity and Health factors. The factors had good internal consistency and were stable, and were found to discriminate between hospital patients and active community residents in the expected direction. At the factor level the SAQ was not responsive to changes in the health status of these participants over time. However, two SAQ items were found to be responsive to this change. There was high test-retest reliability over a one-week period and the factors demonstrated convergent validity with a widely-used generic indicator of health status. An interviewer-administered version and a computerized version of the SAQ were developed, and found to be equivalent to the traditional pencil-and-paper SAQ. These new methods of administration were well-received and rated as easy to complete, even by those individuals who had never used a computer before. Finally, the implementation of an Internet-based SAQ provided strong convergent validity for the 4-factor model with a large and diverse sample of online users. In summary, the SAQ was found to be a useful tool for the brief assessment of healthy aging status of older adults in a wide variety of settings.