BackgroundSince more people are reaching older and older ages, healthcare systems are becoming in need of more and more knowledgeable nurses to meet the specific health care needs of older persons. Several instruments exist to measure and evaluate students’ knowledge of older persons, ageing, and gerontological care; however, unequivocal evidence on their use and psychometric properties is scarce. The aim of the study was to validate a revised version of Palmore’s Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ).MethodsA cross-sectional, exploratory study was conducted. Palmore’s FAQ version 1 and Facts on Aging Mental Health Quiz were used as bases for the development of a revised FAQ instrument. Three researchers translated these instruments into Dutch. A panel of nine experts in geriatric research and gerontological care evaluated the translation and the face and content validity of the instrument. We used a cross-sectional, exploratory design to assess its internal consistency and construct validity. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, exploratory factor analysis, and the known-groups technique were used for these analyses.ResultsBased on the experts’ consensus, a revised version of the FAQ, consisting of 36 items, was produced. Exploratory factor analysis did not reveal underlying constructs suggesting that the revised version encloses a more general concept of knowledge (e.g. about older persons, aging, gerontological care). Using the known-groups technique, we validated the instrument, showing that it discriminates between the knowledge of first- and third-year nursing students. The overall Cronbach’s coefficient of 0.723 was acceptable and changed minimally (from 0.708 to 0.724) when items were removed.ConclusionWe conclude that the revised version of the FAQ can be used to properly evaluate nursing students’ knowledge about older persons and gerontological care, as reasonable reliability and validity were established for this revised version of the FAQ.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2318-14-128) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Magnetic resonance imaging and cranial -ultrasound are the most frequently implemented imaging methods for investigating the infantile hydrocephalic brain. A general and reliable measurement index that can be equally applied in both imaging methods to assess dimension of ventricular dilatation is currently not available. For this purpose, a new parameter called the frontal and temporal horn ratio - determinable in coronal slices of the brain - was developed and evaluated in a comparative volumetric retrospective study: Statistical analyses of 118 MRIs of 46 different shunt-treated pediatric patients revealed a good linear correlation between the new index and the actual ventricular volume.