Translation and initial validation of the Persian version of Groningen Frailty Inventory

Assessing the disability of the elderly requires a specific instrument. The Groningen Frailty Inventory is one of the known instruments that used to measure the ability of the elderly. The present study aimed to translate and initially validate the Persian version of the GFI questionnaire.

The present study was a methodological study which was performed on 139 elderly people. The questionnaire was translated from English into Persian and face and content validity were determined qualitatively. The quantitative validation was performed using construct validity (known groups comparison and concurrent validity). The General Anxiety Inventory was used for concurrent validity. Reliability was assessed by estimating internal consistency and test-retest analyses.

The results of the known groups analysis showed that the questionnaire well differentiated disability score in older men versus women as hypothesized. Older people with lower education also had lower score as compared to well-educated older participants. Concurrent validity indicated a significant correlation between the Persian version of the Groningen Frailty and the General Anxiety Inventory. The internal consistency (Kuder- Richardson) was 0.762. Test-retest reliability (ICC) of the questionnaire with a two-weeks interval was 0.61.

The findings indicated that the Persian version of Groningen Frailty Indicator is a valid instrument and now could be used for measuring in research and clinical practice. It is suggested that the future studies assess the structural validity of the GFI using factor analysis with a bigger sample size.