Test-retest reliability of the Swedish version of the Life-Space Assessment Questionnaire among community-dwelling older adults

Abstract

Objective: To examine the test-retest reliability of the Swedish version of the Life-Space Assessment Questionnaire.

Design: Test-retest reliability study.

Subjects: A total of 298 community-dwelling subjects between 75 and 90 years of age.

Methods: The Life-Space Assessment Questionnaire was translated into Swedish. By personal interviews during home visits and two weeks later by telephone interviews the subjects were asked about their life-space mobility during the past four weeks, and how often and whether they were independent or needed assistance from another person or equipment to reach different life-space levels.

Results: None of the four scoring methods showed significant difference between test sessions. The mean (SD) total scores were 65 (22) and 65 (23) out of the maximum possible score of 120 at the two sessions. High levels were found for independent, assisted, and maximal life-space at both sessions. Intraclass correlation coefficients and weighted Kappa-values between 0.84-0.94 were found for the total score, the independent, and the assisted life-space levels, indicating good to excellent reliability. A lower Kappa-value was observed for the maximal life-space level, mainly owing to skewed distributions. The method error values showed that a change of 10 in the total score and a change of one level in any of the three life-space levels can be considered to indicate a real change in clinical practice.

Conclusion: The Swedish version of the Life-Space Assessment Questionnaire can be reliably used among community-dwelling older adults.

Keywords: Elderly; life space; mobility limitation; outcome assessment; reproducibility of results.