Zeitschrift für Alzheimer-Krankheit und Parkinsonismus

Abstrakt

Psychomotor Aging in Lebanon: Reliability and Validity of the Geriatric Psychomotor Examination

Shereen Ghantous Faddoul, Carla Matta Abizeid and Jean-Michel Albaret

Objective: This study targets the standardization of the Geriatric Psychomotor Examination (GPE) that evaluates motor skills, time, memory, attention and perception among Lebanese elderly population.

Methods: The GPE, created in France and recently standardized in Portugal is now translated to Arabic and standardized in Lebanon on a sample of 381 people aged 60 years and above. Five raters collected data during two years. Apparent and construct validity, homogeneity and internal consistency, inter-observer and test-retest reliability of the tool were tested. This tool’s sensitivity to different populations was subsequently assessed.

Results: The GPE’s psychometric properties enable it to accurately define the progressive decrease in Lebanese elderly psychomotor skills. Comparison with the French agers shows the latter ones seem to preserve better capacities than Lebanese elders. Discussion: This difference can be analyzed in a holistic socio-cultural perspective and raises questions about new policies to enhance the elderly integration in Lebanon.