Adaptation and validation of the Screening Questionnaire for Family Abuse of the Elderly in the sociocultural context of Colombia

Abstract

In Colombia, like many countries in the world, due to the increase in population of elderly people, mistreatment has increased, which has physical, psychological and social consequences for the individual and major repercussions on society. The detection of abuse is a complex task, among other aspects, due to the concealment of victims and the lack of valid, reliable detection instruments that are in keeping with the sociocultural context. Professionals responsible for dealing with these situations must have an instrument that allows early detection. The objective of this study was to adapt and validate the Family Abuse Screening Questionnaire for Elderly People in Colombia. A cross-sectional study with mixed methods was carried out in two stages from 2017 to 2018. In the first stage, linguistic and semantic adaptation was carried out using translation, synthesis, back translation, expert analysis and pilot testing with 30 abused and non-abused elderly people. In the second stage, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were obtained by means of an exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's Alpha, using STATA 13. In the results, we provided a Socially and Culturally Adapted Family Abuse Screening Questionnaire for elderly people in Colombia with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.82, sensitivity value of 86.9% (p < 0.05) and a specificity value of 84% (p < 0.05), detecting abuse with 4 or more positive responses to abuse. The application of the screening questionnaire by health and social services professionals will prevent further damage to social and physical health in the elderly people in Colombia, as well as reduce the costs of care in institutions.