부산대학교 도서관

OBJECTIVE: To assess the phenomenon of loneliness, a culturally relevant tool was developed. STUDY DESIGN : Cross-sectional Design. PLACE & DURATION OF STUDY: The data were collected from November 2019 to January 2020 from the Old age institutions of Lahore. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In the first phase of the study, 16 older adults were interviewed to generate a pool of 37-items reflecting the phenomenon of loneliness as experienced by them. All the responses were gathered, and the vague items were discarded. The developed tool was then validated through experts for their significance and relevance to the target population. Further, the tool was administered to 100 older adults selected through purposive sampling within the age range of 65 to 90 years. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale was also administered for concurrent validity. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis yielded three factor solution, namely “Aloofness”, “Depressive Symptoms” and “Anxiety”. Results showed that the developed scale was highly consistent (α=.93). CONCLUSION: This study has yielded a self-report measure of loneliness for institutionalized older adults with sound psychometric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]