Psychometric Properties of Persian Version of Everyday Discrimination Scale and Correlation With Physical Health in Iranian Older Women

Discrimination can entail important negative consequences on the health of individuals and older women could be exposed to social discrimination in different contexts, especially the family, because of their age and gender. Few studies have specifically studied the discrimination of older women and its effects on health. The aim of the present study was to translate and determine the psychometric characteristics of Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) in community-dwelling Iranian older women in Tehran and evaluate relationship between discrimination and health.

This research was conducted on 250 community-dwelling women aged 60 and over in Tehran, Iran. EDS was translated based on the protocol introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO). Content validity index (CVI) was assessed for content validity based on expert opinion. Construct validity of EDS was investigated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and its reliability was evaluated by calculating the degree of internal consistency and stability. Mean of perceived discrimination was compared in two groups with good and poor self-rated physical health.

The mean age of subjects was 67.9 ± 6.5 years. The results showed that content validity (SCVI = 0.9, SCVI/AVG = 0.91), construct validity (high correlation of each item with the factor and optimality of fitness indices in CFA) and reliability (α = 0.91, intraclass correlation [ICC] = 0.91, and test-retest correlation=0.77, P<0.001 ) of EDS tool were optimal and suitable for Iranian older women. Perceived discrimination was significantly higher in older women with poor physical health.

EDS has an appropriate validity and reliability in assessing perceived discrimination among Iranian older women in the context of family relationship and perceived discrimination negatively affect physical health.