TURKISH VERSION OF KOGAN'S OLD PEOPLE SCALE: A VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY STUDY

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of Kogan's Old People Scale (KOP) - one of the most commonly used instruments developed with the aim of evaluating attitudes towards older people. Materials and Method: Following the translation process, 399 students of Nursing and Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Departments completed the socio-demographic questionnaire and the Turkish version of the scale. Content and construct validity, internal consistency reliability of this scale were analyzed by appropriate statistical methods. Results: The Turkish version of the scale had good content validity (CVI=0.85). All but one of the 34 items had significant item-total correlations (p<0.05). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.64. Some evidence of construct validity was found in three-factor solution, which explained 23.7% of the variances. Test and re-test reliability of the items indicated the reliability of the Turkish version of KOP scale (p<0.01). Conclusion: It is concluded that Turkish version of KOP presents adequate validity, internal consistency reliability, and may be used to assess the attitudes toward older people, especially of the students attending to health sciences departments.