Psychometric evaluation of an Arabic language version of the Short Form of Preferences for Routines Scale (PRS-S) in Community-dwelling Older Adults

Background There is a growing acknowledgment within the scientific community of the importance of preferences for routines (PR) in structuring the daily lives of older adults, as it reliably can serve as either a coping mechanism or contribute to emotional, cognitive, and functional vulnerabilities in its indeclinable form. Therefore, it is crucial to have a reliable, concise, easily administered, and cost-effective tool to assess this concept in clinical practice. The present study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic translation of the Preferences for Routines Scale- Short Form (PRS-S) in older Arabic-speaking adults living in the community. Method This study involved 539 older Arabic-speaking adults residing in the Egyptian community. Participants were provided with the 5-item Arabic-translated versions of the PRS-S, the 13-item Older People Quality of Life-Brief (OPQOL-brief), and the 15-item Resilience Scale of Older Adults (RSOA). Results Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that, after introducing a correlation between the residuals of items 1 and 2 due to a high modification index, the one-factor model of the PRS-S demonstrated excellent fit indices and a reliability of ω = .70; α = .69. Measurement consistency of the Arabic PRS-S was established across males and females at the configural, metric, and scalar levels; no significant difference in PRS-S scores between genders was found. Lastly, PRS-S scores showed significant and appropriate patterns correlations with the Arabic versions of RSOA and OPQOL-Brief scores in our sample, indicating adequate concurrent validity. Conclusion This study presents significant psychometric insights into the PRS-S based on CFA results and other analyses among older adults from a distinct cultural context. Providing the PRS-S in Arabic could be valuable for clinicians working with Arabic-speaking older adults in the community, enhancing the understanding of the prevalence and features of preferences for routines and its relevance to Gero-psychology.