Pomiar zachowań zdrowotnych w okresie późnej dorosłości – Kwestionariusz Zachowań Zdrowotnych dla Seniorów

Abstract

The current demographic processes invite an analysis of the lifestyle of people in late adulthood and its determinants. A thorough diagnosis of senior health is also needed, not only for the purposes of description and explanation, but also – above all – for the creation of health programs. The present study analyses the specificity of health behavior of people of senior age. It describes the Health-Related Behavior Questionnaire for Seniors (KZZ-S), a tool used to measure the health behaviors of seniors (i.e., people aged 60 and above), and presents its theoretical basis. The questionnaire has a five-factor structure, as revealed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. It consists of 24 items and allows the calculation of the overall rate of such health behaviors and behavioral categories as positive attitude to life, behavior related to physical health, attention to mental condition, behavior associated with prevention and treatment, and environmental behavior. A higher score indicates a higher level of behavior beneficial to health. In total, the participants in the study were 522 people diverse in terms of activity and life situation, and the aim was to determine the psychometric properties of the KZZ-S. The KZZ-S is a reliable and valid measure with satisfactory psychometric properties (Cronbach’s α was .87 for the whole test and ranged from .63 to .79 for its subscales; absolute stability determined by test-retest was .88).