Developing the Turkish version of the exercise benefits/barriers for the elderly scale

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was develop the Turkish version of the exercise benefits and barriers scale for elderly people. Methods The study was carried out with the methodological research design with a total of N = 300 individuals living in a nursing home (n = 134) and applying to the Family Health Center (n = 131) between October 2017 and May 2018. The study included subjects aged 65 years and older who had no dementia, communication or physical disability. The item pool of the scale consisted of 36 items. Items were structured in five-likert form. Expert opinions of eleven individuals were received for Content Validity Index (CVI). The data of the study were collected with 26-question socio-demographic characteristics form, the Mini Mental Test and the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale for the Elderly (EBBSE). Approval and consents were obtained from the relevant Ethics Committee, from the healthcare facility and participants. For the validity and reliability; CVI, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) Hotelling’s T2, paired sample t test have been carried out. Results The mean age of the subjects was 72.44±5.94 years. Scale’s CVI was 90. The factor analysis demonstrated that the scale included three sub-dimensions of 18 items in Physical and Psychological Benefits of Exercise, 2 items in Social Benefits of Exercise and 8 items inExercise Barriers accounting for 55.36 % of the total variance of the scale. Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficients of the scale was .84. All of the four fit indices obtained in the CFA had desirable magnitudes (RMR=.05;RMSEA=,07;NFI=.81;CFI=.87), indicating a good fit between the model and the data. The item total score correlations ranged from .40 to .69. The scale’s test-retest correlation was .99. Conclusions EBBSE is a valid and reliable scale that can be used to evaluate benefits and barriers perceptions in physical activity practices. Key messages Developed EBBSE can be used to determine the perceptions of exercise for elderly. Developed EBBSE can be used to change barrier perceptions of exercise.