Factor analysis of the Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly: A multi‐centre cross‐cultural validation study.

Aim: This study aimed to explore and confirm the factor structure and item distribution of the Chinese version of Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly among older Chinese people. Methods: A cluster random sampling method was used to collect 2856 older people from five different cities of China from July 2018 to July 2019. A questionnaire comprised of socio‐demographic information and the Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly was administered, and SPSS 21.0 and Mplus 7.4 were used for analyses. Results: Participants were aged 60 to 92 years, with a mean age of 71.52 (SD = 7.68) years. In the Exploratory Factor Analysis, the three‐factor structure and item distribution of the Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly were verified to be better than other options. The factor loadings varied from 0.428 to 0.800, and the communality values ranged from 0.426 to 0.792. The modified model showed a good fit in the Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Conclusion: The Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly has a clear three‐factor structure and a good item distribution. It serves as a convenient and accurate assessment tool to assess the self‐care ability of older Chinese people. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Assessing self‐care ability plays a significant role in the care of older people.The Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly is often used to assess the self‐care ability of older people in China but whilst it has good reliability and content validity, its factor structure and item distribution are not clearly explained in recent literature.Solid evidence on the factor analysis of the Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly is needed to maintain a high standard of health care assessment for the older Chinese people. What this paper adds? We confirmed that the Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly has a clear three‐factor structure and item distribution.The Chinese version of the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly can now be used as the study confirmed its validity and reliability. The implications of this paper: The instrument can be effective in older Chinese people to identify their self‐care support needs and thereby to enable provision of opportunities to implement appropriate nursing care.Health care professionals can use this instrument to assess the alterations in self‐care ability of older Chinese people after particular interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]