PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE TURKISH VERSION (AYTA-TR) OF THE WHO-EUROPE ATTITUDES OF AGING (EAAQ) QUESTIONNAIRE

Introduction: This study was carried out for psychometric analysis of the Turkish version of the WHO - Atittudes of Aging Questionnaire (AAQ). Materials and Method: AAQ consists of 24 items classified in three domains (Psychosocial Loss-PL; Physical Change-PC and Psychological Growth-PG) with 8 items each (min8 max40). Turkish centre results are presented in this EU FP 5th funded international project (n=833). Internal consistency analysis, Construct validity, Convergent - Divergent validity and Known Groups validity were used. Results: 38.7 % of the sample was male, with a mean age 72.7 +/- 6.1. Alpha values of the domains PL, PC ve PG were 0.75, 0.74 and 0.62 respectively. 7th item of the PC and 4th item of the PG violate the internal consistency. BD was the most affected domain by income and objective health (ES=0.50). PL and PC scores were higher among married and who received support(p>0.05). CFA resulted acceptable fit for PC domain (RMESEA=0.09; CFI=0.93); borderline for PC domain and a poor fit for PG domain. Satisfactory covergent-divergent validity results were obtained between WHOQOL and AAQ scales. Conclusion: Results revealed that psychometric properties of Turkish version of the AAQ can be used for the assessmnet of the attitudes of aging but Psychosocial domain results should be interpreted with caution.