Translation and Validation of Two Subscales of Independent Living Scales in the Elderly Iranians

Aging often accompanies declines in muscular capabilities that hinder the performance of daily functions. One of the paramount objectives in occupational therapy is preserving clients’ independence through their ability to conduct instrumental daily living activities. The current study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of two subscales of the independent living scales (ILS) in the elderly Iranians aged 60 - 85. The translation of the two subscales, money management subscale and home management and transportation, were analyzed by experts to develop the final version of each. Afterwards, the face validity, content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) methods were examined. To assess the reliability of the subscales, test-retest reliability techniques were used. The internal consistency of the items was measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The simplicity, relevance, clarity and the necessity of the translated items were acceptable, based on the CVI and CVR scores. Face validity was also acceptable with respect to agreement rate (> 80%), as well as the impact score (> 1.5) for all items. Test-retest reliability was acceptable with respect to the intraclass correlations (ICC) and the standard error of the mean (SEM) scores (ICC = 0.92, SEM = 1.39 for money management; ICC = 0.95, SEM = 0.941 for home management and transportation). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.80 and 0.74 for money management, and home management and transportation, respectively. The results of the study showed that Persian versions of the money management subscale and home management and transportation subscale from the ILS are highly reliable and valid tools to measure these domains of performance in older adults, and they can be used as clinical and research tools to assess instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) by professionals.