Journal List > J Korean Acad Nurs > v.49(5) > 1136402

Lee: Development of the Korean Geriatric Loneliness Scale (KGLS)

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically test the Korean Geriatric Loneliness Scale (KGLS).

Methods

The initial items were based on in-depth interviews with 10 older adults. Psychometric testing was then conducted with 322 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 or older. Content, construct, and criterion-related validity, classification in cutoff point, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability were used for the analysis.

Results

Exploratory factor analysis showed three factors, including 15 items explaining 91.6% of the total variance. The three distinct factors were loneliness associated with family relationships (34.3%), social loneliness (32.4%), and a lack of belonging (24.9%). As a result of confirmatory factor analysis, 14 items in the three-factor structure were validated. Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that the KGLS’ cutoff point of 32 was associated with a sensitivity of 71.0%, specificity of 80.2%, and area under the curve of .83. Reliability, as verified by the test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient, was .89, and Cronbach's α was .90.

Conclusion

As its validity and reliability have been verified through various methods, the KGLS can contribute to assessing loneliness in South Korean older adults.

References

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Table 1.
Demographic Characteristics of Participants
Characteristics Categories Total (n=322) EFA (n=172) CFA (n=150) χ2 p
n (%) or M±SD n (%) or M±SD n (%) or M±SD
 Age (yr) (range: 65~92) 77.76±6.70 78.08±6.72 77.41±6.68
 Gender Female 195 (60.6) 104 (60.5) 91 (60.7) 0.01 .971
Male 127 (39.4) 68 (39.5) 59 (39.3)
 Education No formal education 66 (20.5) 38 (22.1) 28 (18.7) 2.63 .622
Elementary school 81 (25.2) 41 (23.8) 40 (26.7)
Middle school 75 (23.3) 39 (22.7) 36 (24.0)
High school 67 (20.8) 33 (19.2) 34 (22.6)
≥College 33 (10.2) 21 (12.2) 12 (8.0)
 Marital status Unmarried 9 (2.8) 6 (3.5) 3 (2.0) 1.07 .783
Married 124 (38.5) 66 (38.3) 58 (38.7)
Divorced/separated 13 (4.0) 8 (4.7) 5 (3.3)
Bereaved 176 (54.7) 92 (53.5) 84 (56.0)
 Living arrangement Living alone 133 (41.3) 71 (41.3) 62 (41.3) 0.01 .992
Living with family 189 (58.7) 101 (58.7) 88 (58.7)
 Number of children 0 26 (8.1) 13 (7.6) 13 (8.7) 3.12 .210
1~2 131 (40.7) 63 (36.6) 68 (45.3)
≥3 165 (51.2) 96 (55.8) 69 (46.0)
 Religion No 107 (33.2) 57 (33.1) 50 (33.3) 0.01 .971
Yes 215 (66.8) 115 (66.9) 100 (66.7)

EFA=Exploratory factor analysis; CFA=Confirmatory factor analysis.

Table 2.
Exploratory Factor Analysis of Korean Geriatric Loneliness Scale (N=172)
Item Contents Factors
1 2 3
6 I have a family to take care of me when I am sick. .86 .51 .42
1 I have conversations with my family every day. .81 .49 .50
12 I can depend on my family. .80 .51 .40
5 My family does not treat me like they used to. .75 .46 .44
2 I can tell my children about my worries. .73 .50 .49
13 I am satisfied about the relationship with the people around me. .56 .79 .44
20 Friends and neighbors care about me. .49 .76 .45
11 I have a friend to depend on. .29 .69 .27
9 I have people who are close. .41 .68 .30
10 People seem to get along with me only in show. .45 .64 .27
19 There is someone who understands me. .44 .59 .40
8 I belong to a welfare center, a senior citizens' center, or a religious group. .41 .54 .28
17 I feel like a worthless person. .50 .40 .93
14 I am a necessary person in society. .39 .35 .76
15 I spend my time all day doing nothing. .48 .45 .65
      Eigen value 5.15 4.86 3.74
      Explained variance (%) 34.3 32.4 24.9
      Total explained variance (%) 34.3 66.7 91.6
Table 3.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Korean Geriatric Loneliness Scale (N=150)
Item Factors Standardized estimates SE C.R. p AVE Composite reliability
 1 Family relationships loneliness .83 .08 11.71 <.001 .72 .90
 2 .70 .09 9.42 <.001
 5 .68 .08 8.98 <.001
 6 .83 .08 11.88 <.001
 12 .84 - - -
 9 Social loneliness .65 .14 7.18 <.001 .66 .89
 10 .68 .18 7.45 <.001
 11 .69 .17 7.54 <.001
 13 .70 .13 7.60 <.001
 19 .71 - - -
 20 .69 .15 7.49 <.001
 14 Lack of belonging .83 .07 11.05 <.001 .72 .88
 15 .65 .07 8.43 <.001
 17 .89 - - -
Fitness index χ2 (p) CMIN/DF SRMR RMSEA IFI CFI PNFI PCFI
 Criteria (>.05) ≤3 ≤.08 ≤.10 ≥.90 ≥.90 ≥.50 ≥.50
 Model 162.61 (<.001) 2.20 .07 .09 .92 .91 .70 .74

SE=Standard error; C.R.=Critical ratio; AVE=Average variance extracted; CMIN/DF=Chi-square minimum/degree of freedom; SRMR=Standardized root mean residual; RMSEA=Root mean square error of approximation; IFI=Incremental fit index; CFI=Comparative fit index; PNFI=Parsimonious normed fit index; PCFI=Parsimonious comparative fix index.

Table 4.
Reliability for Korean Geriatric Loneliness Scale (N=322)
Factors Test-retest (n=30) M±SD Cronbach’s α
 Test score (M±SD) Retest score (M±SD) PCC r (p) ICC (95% CI)
 Family relationships loneliness 2.15±0.47 2.08±0.33 .84 .79 (0.60~0.89) 2.37±0.70 .89
 Social loneliness 2.29±0.39 2.26±0.35 .85 .84 (0.70~0.92) 2.28±0.53 .84
 Lack of belonging 2.33±0.38 2.40±0.37 .80 .80 (0.62~0.90) 2.54±0.74 .82
 Total 2.25±0.32 2.23±0.27 .91 .89 (0.78~0.95) 2.37±0.53 .90

CI=Confidence interval; ICC=Intraclass correlation coefficient; M=Mean; PCC=Pearson correlation coefficient; SD=Standard deviation.

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