Objective: To validate the European Portuguese version of the Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) instrument, used for the multidimensional evaluation of the quality of life of the elderly.
Method: The study was authorized by the authors of the original English version. First, the questionnaire was translated into European Portuguese and culturally adapted. The resulting version was then validated by experts and administered to 302 elderly persons (147 living in nursing homes and 155 at day care centers) in the central region of Portugal (districts of Aveiro, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Leiria, Guarda, and Viseu). Subsequently, a global psychometric study was conducted on the instrument, evaluating internal coherence, validity of construction, criterion validity, and reproducibility. The sample was randomly selected and stratified by age, sex, and type of institutional support.
Results: The internal coherence (Cronbach's alpha) was between 0.64 and 0.91 for each of the five functional assessment scales included in the instrument. For criterion validity, the relatively low Pearson correlation values obtained (<0.700) through the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form General Health Survey reflect the challenges associated with establishing a criterion by which new health evaluation instruments might be compared. Pearson's correlation for reproducibility was between 0.859 and 1.0 for all the scales.
Conclusions: The European-Portuguese version of the OARS (Questionário de Avaliação Funcional Multidimensional de Idosos) is useful for collecting valid information that can help focus community interventions and promote strategies that specifically target this population group.