Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a self-control ability assessment scale associated with health behavior (SCAAS) for older adults in a community.
Methods: The SCAAS contained 24 items, namely, present behavior (a) and future goal (b) for each of 12 health behaviors. A questionnaire survey about the SCAAS was conducted among 1,883 older adults. Then thirty-eight older adults were asked to participate in a program to maintain oral health for a month. The questionnaire survey about the SCAAS was conducted before the program start and after one and a half months.
Results: 1. Eight-hundred and three responses to the SCAAS were analyzed. The subjects had an average age of 75.7±6.3 years, and 42.0% were men. 2. Twenty-two items were selected for the SCAAS from the results of frequency distribution, mean and factor analysis. Five factors were obtained by exploratory factor analysis. The degree of self-control ability was determined as the sum of 11 health behavior scores calculated using a formula; b/(4−a)+1. The sum of the scores significantly correlated with the total scores of the health locus of control scale (r=0.24) and the reformative self-control scale (r=0.27). Cronbach's α was 0.83 for overall scores. 3. The sum of the scores of 27 older adults that had practiced the program were significantly higher than those of the 11 elderly that had not practiced. The test–retest correlation was 0.577 overall scores.
Conclusion: These results suggest that the developed SCAAS has construct validity, criterion-related validity and reliability.
