A SCALE TO MEASURE DISABILITY IN A POPULATION OF COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS OF DIVERSE ETHNIC GROUPS. Neva J. Kirk-Sanchez* Physical Therapy, Florida International University, Miami, FL PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the concurrent validity of a scale to measure disability in a population of community dwelling older adults of diverse ethnic groups. BACKGROUNDS/SIGNIFICANCE: Disability is defined as an inability to perform activities in the context of the sociocultural and physical environment in which an individual lives. The disablement model suggests that disability is related to physical, psychological, and social constructs. SUBJECTS: Subjects were 105 older adults (83% female) who attended Senior centers in South Florida. Subjects were 32% white non-Hispanic, 34% Hispanic/Latino, and 32% black/African American. Subjects were an average of 77 years old, and had an average of 2.3 medical conditions. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The disability scale consists of a list of nine social and community activities. Subjects were asked to indicate whether they participated in each activity, and if not whether their lack of participation was due to their health status. For activities they participated in, they were asked to indicate whether they did so with or without difficulty. If a subject did not participate in an activity because they did not wish to, this activity was excluded from the list. Possible scores ranged from 0.33-1.0, with a score of 1.0 indicating that subjects participated in all desired activities without difficulty. Subjects also completed the Tinetti test, the Timed Up and Go, fast and slow walking speed, grip strength, the Duke Social Support and Stress Scale, and the mental health, general health, and physical function subscales of the Medical Outcomes Survey SF-36. ANALYSES: Average scores were calculated and Spearman correlations were performed to assess the correlation between the disability scale score and measures of physical function, physical performance, social support, mental health, and perceived health. RESULTS: The average disability scale score was 0.81(S.D. 0.16). Disability scale scores had a weak correlation with mental health (r=0.19) and perceived health (r=0.16), a fair correlation with social support (r=0.32) and grip strength (r=0.27), and a good correlation with the Tinetti test (r=0.43), fast and normal walking speed (r=0.42 and 0.49 respectively), Timed up and go (r=-0.47), and the physical function subscale of the SF-36 (r=0.41). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed measure of disability seems to be related to psychological, physical, and social constructs as suggested by the disablement model. This scale may be a useful way to quantify disability in patients receiving physical therapy. FUNDING SOURCE: None KEYWORDS: disability, older adults, measurement Mean, standard deviations and Spearman correlation of relevant variables with disability scale score Copyright 2009 by the American Physical Therapy Association. Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Educators, students, and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy (ISSN 1538-6724) by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Other types of customers who want permission to reprint should contact the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.