The Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test: The adaptation study into Turkish

Objective: This study is undertaken to adapt The Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test (HS-EAST) to Turkish. Methods: The sample of the study is composed of 465 volunteered women and men (60+) (mean age: 71.47±7.4) who live alone in their home or with their children across Turkey. HS-EAST has 15 items. Total point correlation and inner consistency coefficient (KR 20) are calculated for reliability of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis is performed to test the theoretical suitability and validity for Turkish context. Results: In this study, HS-EAST has three factors construction as original scale. Inner consistency coefficient was found as 0.814. The highness of the score points indicates a potential increase in the risk of elder abuse. Conclusion: These results show that the Turkish version of HS-EAST may be used as a valid and reliable tool in determining elderly abuse and also for purposes of early diagnosis and in other relevant research. It might be recommended that exploring the validity and reliability of the scale is repeated in different groups of subjects of similar ages and that the scale is used in prevalence studies [Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2016; 17(0.100): 45-52]