Reliability and validity testing of the physical resilience measure

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test reliability and validity of the Physical Resilience Scale.

Methods: A single-group repeated measure design was used and 130 older adults from three different housing sites participated. Participants completed the Physical Resilience Scale, Hardy-Gill Resilience Scale, 14-item Resilience Scale, 5-item Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Yale Physical Activity Survey at baseline and again 2 weeks later.

Results: There was evidence of validity of the Physical Resilience Scale based on model testing using a Rasch Analysis and significant correlations with commonly used general resilience measures. Evidence of reliability was supported based on a Separation Index and alpha coefficient of .89 and test-retest reliability with correlations between testing times of .73.

Discussion: Future use of the Physical Resilience Scale should consider adding more challenging items to better differentiate those particularly high in physical resilience.