RNOtherResearch in nursing & health2026

Development and Psychometric Testing of the Inventory of Self-Care Decision-Making Styles of Older Adults.

Maria Matarese, Marzia Lommi, Maddalena De Maria and 1 others

PMID 41251104

WHAT IT FOUND

A questionnaire for older adults measured self-care decision styles.

Scores were stable on retesting, but a scale's items did not quite meet the study's target for working together, and some expected links were not found.

Key findings

01The final inventory had 20 items, five for each decision style scale.

02The Responsible Decisions Scale showed consistent positive associations across all three scales.

03The Independent Decisions Scale had an Omega coefficient of 0.691, while the paper stated values of 0.70 or higher were acceptable.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs

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What it does not show

The sample was a convenience sample of Italian older adults, and the authors say this limits generalizability. The styles reflect the current cohort of older adults in Western countries, and the authors say future cohorts may differ. The Independent Decisions Scale had an Omega coefficient of 0.691, while the paper stated values of 0.70 or higher were acceptable. The Self-Neglected and Guided scales required adding covariances between items to improve fit, so their initial models did not fit as well. The authors say not all psychometric properties were assessed. The authors say intervention studies are needed to confirm effectiveness. People with cognitive or visual impairments affecting reading comprehension were excluded.

Declared interests

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by Center of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship - CECRI (grant number 2.22.10).

The easy way to misread this

Do not conclude that the DECIDE inventory improves older adults' self-care or health outcomes. The paper says intervention studies are needed to confirm effectiveness.

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