Reliability and validity of Turkish version of attitudes toward old people scale.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the reliability and validity of a Turkish version of Kogan's Attitudes Toward Older People Scale.

BACKGROUND: To explore nursing students' attitudes towards older people, standardised, well-tested instruments are needed. Kogan's Attitudes Toward Older People is a comprehensive instrument for assessment of attitudes toward older adults and has been validated in several languages. However, a validated Turkish version has not been available until now.

DESIGN: The study used psychometric testing to establish reliability and validity of the Turkish version of Kogan's Attitudes Toward Older People Scale.

METHODS: A convenience sample of 237 nursing students in Turkey was used to collect data regarding attitudes towards older people. Content validity, construct validity, internal consistency and stability reliability of the Kogan's Attitudes Toward Older People were assessed.

RESULTS: Kogan's Attitudes Toward Older People scores were between 74-224. All of the 34 items were found to have significant item-to-total correlations (p < 0·05). Results of the confirmatory factor analysis established that the scale had a two-factor construct and was appropriate use in this student population. The Cronbach's alpha was 0·89 for the total scale (0·82 for negative, 0·85 for positive). In addition, test-retest correlation was 0·83 (negative subscale 0·77, positive subscale 0·73) (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The Turkish version of the Kogan's Attitudes Toward Older People was found to be a reliable and valid tool for assessing Turkish nursing students' attitudes toward older adults.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study provided evidence that the Kogan's Attitudes Toward Older People is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing Turkish nursing student's positive and negative attitudes toward older adults. It is easy and practical to use for both informants and investigators and acceptable for Turkish Culture.