BMC Geriatrics (Jun 2024)

Validation of the Indian (Hindi) version of the life-space assessment scale among community-dwelling older adults: a multicentric cross-sectional study

  • Durgesh Prasad Sahoo,
  • Soumya Swaroop Sahoo,
  • Santosh Kumar Nirala,
  • Rama Shankar Rath,
  • Neeraj Agarwal,
  • Meely Panda,
  • Rakesh Kakkar,
  • Sanjay Pandey,
  • C M Singh,
  • Hari Shanker Joshi,
  • Bhola Nath

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05072-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract Background The Life-Space Assessment (LSA) is an instrument that measures mobility in older adults as they reach different areas, defined as life-spaces extending from home to beyond towns or regions. The purpose of the study was to develop the Hindi version of the LSA (LSA- H) and to investigate the validity and reliability of the Hindi version as well as its cultural adaptation. Methods A cross-sectional study of two hundred forty-five older adults participated in the study from four different study practice areas. Following forward backwards translation, the LSA-H was developed, and the scores were correlated with those of the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale Hindi (ABC- H), the Physical Health Subscale of the WHO-BREF Questionnaire and the Geriatric Depression Scale: Short Form Hindi (GDS-SFH) to test the criterion and concurrent validity. Results The mean score and standard deviation of the LSA-H questionnaire were 56.53 ± 35.99, those of the Physical Health Subscale of the WHO-BREF instrument were 18.54 ± 7.87, those of the GDS-SFH questionnaire were 6.95 ± 4.21 and those of the ABC- H questionnaire were 54.40 ± 28.96. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the LSA-H score and ABC-H score was 0.707 (p value < 0.0001), that between the LSA-H score and the Physical Health Subscale of the WHO-BREF was 0.766 (p value < 0.0001), and that between the LSA-H score and GDS-SFG score was − 0.674 (p value < 0.0001). Conclusion This study demonstrated that the Hindi version of the LSA is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing living space among older adults in the Hindi language in an Indian population. Furthermore, the LSA-H was significantly correlated with other health assessment tools in terms of functional mobility, general health status and mental well-being.

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