A SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL TO MEASURE OLDER ADULTS PERCEPTIONS REGARDING PHYSICAL-FITNESS AND EXERCISE ACTIVITY

The purpose of this research was to qualitatively generate and psychom etrically assess an instrument which assesses the self-perceived physi cal fitness and exercise activity levels of community-dwelling older a dults and examines perceived factors which enhance or impede their exe rcise activity level. This research was carried out in two stages: qua litative and quantitative. Items for the instrument were generated thr ough qualitative interviews with 23 community-dwelling older adults, 9 males and 14 females, with an age range of 63 to 82 years. From this qualitative study, 50 items were generated, representing nine categori es of elements which enhance or impede physical activity. The 50 items were incorporated into a 4-point, forced-choice, Likert format instru ment which was pilot tested for clarity and ease of administration wit h a convenience sample of community-dwelling older adults. Following t he pilot testing, 41 items were retained. The 41-item instrument, enti tled Physical Fitness and Exercise Activity Levels of Older Adults Sca le, was categorized into the following subscales: Physical Fitness, Ba rriers, Motivators, and Exercise Frequency. Initial testing of the Phy sical Fitness and Exercise Activity Levels of Older Adults Scale seems to indicate adequate validity and reliability. Correlation coefficien ts for the total instrument, as well as the subscales, were significan tly positive for both stability and internal consistency. Results with respect to predictive validity were mixed. The Physical Fitness and M otivators subscales were significant predictors of Exercise Frequency, Although the correlation between the Barriers subscale and Exercise F requency was negative, it was non-significant.