Self-Reported Physical Fitness in Frail Older Persons: Reliability and Validity of the Self-Assessment of Physical Fitness (SAPF)

Abstract

In very old and/ or frail older people living in long-term care facilities, physical inactivity negatively affects activities of daily living. The main reason to assess older adults' perceived fitness is to establish the relation with their beliefs about their ability to perform physical activity adjusted to daily tasks. The Self-Assessment of Physical Fitness scale was developed to address these needs. The aim of this study was to estimate the test-retest reliability and construct validity of the scale. 76 elderly people (M age = 86.0 yr., SD = 6.3) completed the test. Cronbach's α was .71. One-week test-retest reliability ICC's ranged from .66 (SAPF aerobic endurance and SAPF balance) to .70 (SAPF sum score). Concurrent validity with the Groningen Fitness Test for the Elderly was fair to moderate. Despite the limited number of participants (N = 76), results suggest that the scale may be useful as an assessment of perceived fitness in older adults.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aaronson

N. K.

Muller

Cohen

P. D.

Essink-Bot

M. L.

Fekkes

Sanderman

Sprangers

M. A.

te Velde

Verrips

(1998) Translation, validation, and norming of the Dutch language version of the SF–36 Health Survey in community and chronic disease populations. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 51, 1055–1068.

Abadie

(1988) Construction and validation of a perceived physical fitness scale. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 67, 887–892.

Bennie

Bruner

Dizon

Fritz

Goodman

Peterson

(2003) Measurements of balance: Comparison of the timed “Up and Go” Test and functional reach test with the berg balance scale. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 15(2), 93–97.

Cantril

(1965) The pattern of human concerns. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univer. Press.

Paw

Chin A. M. J. M.

van Poppel

M. N. M.

van Mechelen

(2006) Effects of resistance and functional-skills training on habitual activity and constipation among older adults living in long-term care facilities: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Geriatrics, 6, 9.

de Boer

(2006) Rapportage ouderen. Den Haag, The Netherlands: SCP.

de Klerk

(2005) Ouderen in instellingen. Den Haag, The Netherlands: SCP.

Deveraux

Futrell

Williamson

Chamberlain

Bourque

A. M.

MacDonnell

Phaneuf

J. P.

(1996) Perceptions of physical fitness and exercise activity among older adults. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 23, 542–547.

Deveraux

Williamson

Futrell

Chamberlain

(1997) A self-assessment tool to measure older adults' perceptions regarding physical fitness and exercise activity. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25, 1220–1226.

10.

Doeglas

Krol

Guillemin

Suurmeijer

Sanderman

Smedstad

L. M.

Briançon

van den Heuvel

(1995) The assessment of functional status in rheumatoid arthritis: A cross cultural, longitudinal comparison of the Health Assessment Questionnaire and the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale. Journal of Reumatology, 22(10), 1834–1843.

11.

Ferraz

M. B.

Oliveira

L. M.

Araujo

P. M.

Atra

Tugwell

(1990) Cross-cultural reliability of the physical ability dimension of the Health Assessment Questionnaire. Journal of Reumatology, 17(6), 813–817.

12.

Folstein

M. F.

Folstein

S. E.

McHugh

P. R.

(1975) Mini-mental state: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of the patient for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.

13.

Fried

L. P.

Tangen

C. M.

Walston

Newman

A. B.

Hirsch

Gottdiener

Seeman

Tracey

Kop

W. J.

, Burke, G., & McBurnie, M. A., & the Cardiovascular Health Study Collaborative Research Group . (2001) Frailty in older adults: Evidence for a phenotype. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 56, M146–M156.

14.

Fries

J. M.

Spitz

P. W.

Young

D. Y.

(1982) Dimensions of health outcomes: The Health Assessment Questionnaire: Disability and pain scales. Journal of Reumatology, 9(5), 789–793.

15.

Garrett

A. M.

Ruta

D. A.

Abdallah

M. I.

Russell

I. T.

(1993) The SF–36 health survey questionnaire: An outcome measure suitable for routine use within the NHS? British Medical Journal, 306(6890), 1440–1444.

16.

Jones

C. J.

Rikli

R. E.

(2002) Measuring functional fitness of older adults. Journal of Active Aging, March April, 15–30.

17.

Jones

C. J.

Rikli

R. E.

Beam

W. C.

(1999) A 30-s chair-stand test as a measure of lower body strength in community-residing older adults. Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, 70(2), 113–119.

18.

Kempen

G. I.

van Heuvelen

M. J.

van den Brink

R. H.

Kooijman

A. C.

Klein

Houx

P. J.

Ormel

(1996) Factors affecting contrasting results between self-reported and performance-based levels of physical limitations. Age and Ageing, 25, 458–464.

19.

Kim

J. Y.

Park

J. H.

Lee

J. J.

Huh

Lee

S. B.

Han

S. K.

Choi

S. W.

Lee

D. Y.

Kim

K. W.

Woo

J. I.

(2008) Standardization of the Korean version of the geriatric depression scale: Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Psychiatric Investigation, 5(4), 232–238.

20.

King

M. B.

Judge

J. O.

Whipple

Wolfson

(2000) Reliability and responsiveness of two physical performance measures examined in the context of a functional training intervention. Physical Therapy, 80(1), 8–16.

21.

Lamb

K. L.

(1992) Correlations of self-perceived fitness. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 74, 907–914.

22.

Lemmink

K. A.

de Greef

M. H.

van Heuvelen

M. J.

Bult

Brouwer

W. H.

Stevens

Rispens

(1995) The Groningen fitness test for the elderly (GFE): Objectivity, stability and criterion-related validity. In Physical activity and health in the elderly: Proceedings of the II International Conference of the European Group for the Research into Physical Activity for the Elderly (EGREPA). Stirling, Scotland: Univer. of Stirling, available from Center for Physical Education and Sports Development.

23.

Mitnitski

A. B.

Song

Rockwood

(2004) The estimation of relative fitness and frailty in community- dwelling older adults using self-reported data. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Science, 59(6), 627–632.

24.

Montero-Odasso

Bergman

Béland

Sourial

Fletcher

J. D.

Dallaire

(2009) Identify mobility heterogeneity in very frail older adults: Are frail people all the same? Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 49(2), 272–277.

25.

Rikli

R. E.

Jones

C. J.

(2001) Senior fitness test manual. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

26.

Rockwood

Mitnitski

A. B.

(2007) Frailty in relation to the accumulation of deficits. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Science and Medical Sciences, 62, 722–727.

27.

Rossiter-Fornoff

J. E.

Wolf

S. L.

Wolfson

L. I.

Buchner

D. M.

(1995) A cross-sectional validation study of the FICSIT common data base static balance measures. Frailty and Injuries: Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 50(6), 291–297.

28.

Rush

K. L.

Watts

W. E.

Stanbury

(2011) Older adults' perceptions of weakness and ageing. International Journal of Older People Nursing, June 30, 1–7.

29.

Ruta

D. A.

Abdalla

M. I.

Garrett

A. M.

Coutts

Russell

I. T.

(1994) SF 36 Health Survey Questionnaire: I. Reliability in two patient based studies. Quality Health Care, 3(4), 180–185.

30.

Schuler

P. B.

Marzilli

T. S.

(2003) Use of self-reports of physical fitness as substitutes for performance-based measures of physical fitness in older adults. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96, 414–420.

31.

Schuler

P. B.

Marzilli

T. S.

Kozusko

(2004) Effects of five weeks strength and flexibility training on associations between self-reported and performance-based measures of physical fitness in older Afro-American adults. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 99, 861–870.

32.

Schuurmans

Steverink

Lindenberg

Frieswijk

Slaets

J. P.

(2004) Old or frail, what tell us more? Journals of Gerontology: Medical Science, 59A, 962–965.

33.

Steverink

Slaets

J. P.

Schuurmans

van Lis

(2001) Measuring frailty: Development and testing of the Groningen Frailty indicator. The Gerontologist, 41, 236–237.

34.

Topinkova

(2008) Aging, disability and frailty. Journals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 52(Suppl. 1), 6–11.

35.

van Heuvelen

M. J.

Kempen

G. I.

Brouwer

W. H.

de Greef

M. H.

(2000) Physical fitness related to disability in older persons. Gerontology, 46(6), 333–341.

36.

van Heuvelen

M. J.

Kempen

G. I.

Ormel

de Greef

M. H.

(1997) Self-reported fitness in older persons: A substitute for performance-based measures of physical fitness. Journal of Ageing and Physical Activity, 5, 298–310.

37.

Weening-Dijksterhuis

de Greef

M. H.

Scherder

E. J.

Slaets

J. P.

van der Schans

C. P.

(2011) Frail institutionalized older persons: A comprehensive review on physical exercise, physical fitness, activities of daily living, and quality of life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 90(2). 156–168.

38.

Yesavage

J. A.

Brink

T. L.

(1983) Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: A preliminary report. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 17(1), 37–49.

39.

Yeung

P. Y.

Woo

Wai-Ting

Rainer

Hudson T. H.

(2009) Heterogeneity of health profiles of older people presenting to an accident and emergency department with a fall. International Journal of Gerontology, 3(3), 156–162.

40.

Young

Xiong

Pruzek

R. M.

Brant

L. J.

(2010) Examining heterogeneity of functional recovery among older adults with hip fractures. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 11(2), 132–139.