The Turkish adaptation and psychometric properties of the geriatric anxiety scale

Purpose of the Study: To translate and adapt the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), a 30-item self-report measure of anxiety among older adults, into Turkish and examine its basic psychometric properties. Design and Methods: We tested the translated GAS in a sample of community-dwelling older adults in Konya, Turkey (N = 100; M age = 71.4 years, SD = 6.5; range = 65-88) without a history of mental disorder and sufficient cognitive abilities. To assess the convergent validity, Turkish versions of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered. Results: The mean GAS total score was 13.33 (SD = 11.86). Due to low item-total correlations (< .30), two items (items 2 and 3) were removed from the Turkish version of the GAS. The internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was excellent for the total score (.91) and acceptable for the subscales (somatic = .71; cognitive = .85; affective = .84). Regarding the convergent validity, the GAS total score was significantly and positively correlated with the total scores of the BAI (r = .87, p < . 05) and GDS (r = .57, p < . 05), with large effect sizes. Implications: The newly translated Turkish version of the GAS has promising utility in an older adult Turkish sample. Future studies of this measure are warranted. © 2018 Mental Illness