Background: Joint contractures, which affect activity, participation, and quality of life, are common complications of neurological conditions among elderly residents in long-term care facilities. The aim of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales in a population with joint contractures.
Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The sample included elderly residents older than 64 years with joint contractures in an important joint who had lived at one of 12 long-term care facilities in Taiwan for more than 6 months (N = 243). The Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales of joint contractures was generated in 5 stages: translation, review, back-translation, review by a panel of specialists, and a pretest. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity were evaluated, and the results were compared with those for the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule.
Results: The Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales had excellent reliability with a Cronbach’s α coefficient of .975 (M = 28.98; SD = 17.34). An exploratory factor analysis showed 3 factors and 1 factor with an eigenvalue > 1 that explained 75.176% and 62.83% of the total variance in the Activity subscale and Participation subscale, respectively. The subscale-to-total scale correlation analysis showed a Pearson correlation coefficient of .881 for the Activity subscale and .843 for the Participation subscale. Pearson’s product-moment correlation revealed that the correlation coefficient (r) between the Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule was .770, and that for the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale was -.553; these values were interpreted as large coefficients.
Conclusions: The underlying theoretical model of the Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales functions well in Taiwan, and it has acceptable levels of reliability and validity. However, the Chinese version needs to be further tested for applicability and generalizability in future studies, preferably with a larger sample and in different clinical domains.
Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2000030413. Registered 1 March 2020, http://www.chictr.org.cn/usercenter.aspx