Development of assessment tool for ego-integrity in nursing home residents

Purpose: The existing ego-integrity assessment tools are mostly self-report tools for elderly community-dwelling individuals. The tools do not sufficiently reflect the various characteristics of elders residing in nursing homes. It is necessary to develop a valid and reliable assessment scale that nursing home nurses can use to measure the ego-integrity of residents. Methods: The assessment tool was tested on 200 elders residing in nursing homes. The 22 nurses in each facility assessed the scale as a measure of ego-integrity in residents in nursing homes. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS 21.0. Results: Through an explorative factor analysis of the ego-integrity assessment tool items, the following 3 factors were extracted: ‘development of relationships with others’, ‘fulfillment of basic needs’, and ‘attitude towards life in general’; and with the cumulative variance of 68.2%, the tool consisting of 3 factors was found to have a sufficient explanatory power. Further confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine how well the components were evaluated through the items. Testing showed for items’ construct-concept validity through a discriminant-convergent validity analysis, 18 items were found to correspond to each of the 3 factors targeted. The scale’s Cronbach’s ⍺coefficient was.89, and it had a test-retest reliability coefficient of.88 (p<.001), and analysis of inter-observer reliability coefficient was.94 (p<.001). Conclusion: As a valuable tool for nursing theory and research as well as nursing practice field and education, the assessment tool is anticipated to contribute to the field of geriatric nursing care.