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Measurement Scale Development for Mobility-Related Quality of Life among Older Malaysian Drivers

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Abstract

Quality of Life (QoL) is frequently understood as subjective well-being at both individual and population levels and specific to a country or context. For individuals, mobility afforded by transport is an important predictor of QoL. This paper aims to provide an overview of theoretical approaches, particularly the selection, optimization, compensation (SOC) model, the scales used to measure quality of life, and the scale development of Mobility-related Quality of Life (M-QoL) among older drivers. A pool of items was developed from three sources: i) literature review, ii) Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale and iii) focus group discussion with older drivers. A survey amongst 498 older Malaysian drivers was administered to confirm internal consistency of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the developed M-QoL scale consists of 12 items with good internal consistency (α = 0.90), and consists of two subfactors addressing functions of driving and accessibility for independent living. Implications of the findings are discussed, including encouraging continuation of driving for those who are able to drive safely, and provision and use of alternatives to driving to help them achieve maximum mobility. Suggestions for future research are also recommended.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported and funded by “Exploratory Research Grant Scheme, Ministry of Higher Education (Project number: ERGS/1/2012/SS08/UPM/02/36) to develop scale and model of Self-Regulatory Driving Practices among Older Malaysian Drivers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Sok Foon Yeoh, Rahimah Ibrahim, Tengku Aizan Hamid & Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abd. Rashid

  2. Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), 21 Alliance Lane, Victoria, 3800, Australia

    Jennifer Oxley

  3. Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Rahimah Ibrahim, Tengku Aizan Hamid & Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abd. Rashid

Authors
  1. Sok Foon Yeoh
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  2. Jennifer Oxley
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  3. Rahimah Ibrahim
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  4. Tengku Aizan Hamid
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  5. Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abd. Rashid
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Correspondence to Rahimah Ibrahim.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual respondents recruited in the project.

Ethical Treatment of Experimental Subjects (Animal and Human)

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The survey form of project was also approved by the Universiti Putra Malaysia ethics committee, Malaysia.

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Yeoh, S.F., Oxley, J., Ibrahim, R. et al. Measurement Scale Development for Mobility-Related Quality of Life among Older Malaysian Drivers. Ageing Int 43, 265–278 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-017-9310-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-017-9310-x

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