Psychometric properties and health correlates of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory in Australian community-residing older women.

Journal article

OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychometric properties and health correlates of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in a cohort of Australian community-residing older women. METHOD: Cross-sectional study of a population-based cohort of women aged 60 years and over (N = 286). RESULTS: The GAI exhibited sound internal consistency and demonstrated good concurrent validity against the state half of the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory and the neuroticism domain of the NEO five-factor inventory. GAI score was significantly associated with self-reported sleep difficulties and perceived memory impairment, but not with age or cognitive function. Women with current DSM-IV Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) had significantly higher GAI scores than women without such a history. In this cohort, the optimal cut-point to detect current GAD was 8/9. Although the GAI was designed to have few somatic items, women with a greater number of general medical problems or who rated their general health as worse had higher GAI scores. CONCLUSION: The GAI is a new scale designed specifically to measure anxiety in older people. In this Australian cohort of older women, the instrument had sound psychometric properties.

Authors: Byrne, G; Pachana, N; Goncalves, D; Arnold, E; King, R

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Aging and mental health
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 247-254
• Publication date: 2010-04-01
• DOI: 10.1080/13607861003587628
• EISSN: 1364-6915
• ISSN: 1360-7863
• Language: English
• Keywords: Health Status; Middle Aged; Cohort Studies; Anxiety Disorders; Female; Australia; Humans; Geriatric Assessment; Questionnaires; Psychometrics; Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies