Design and Development of a Financial Capacity Scale for Older Adults in Iran: A Pilot Study

The capacity to manage financial affairs is a multidimensional construct and includes a wide range of judgment, perceptual, and pragmatic activities, ranging from basic to higher abilities. The decline of cognitive function and the ability to manage financial affairs in the elderly can cause problems in them, their families, and society. The present study aims to design and develop a tool to measure the financial capacity of older adults in Iran.

This pilot study was conducted using Waltz’s four-step method Defining objectives, selecting a conceptual mod, blueprinting, and construction of measure (by application of procedures, item sets, and scoring rules). To check the validity of the tool, its face validity and content validity were evaluated.

The initial draft included nine main areas, 27 sub-areas, and 65 items. The questionnaire was completed through a semi-structured interview by an expert. The items in each area were scored as “yes,” “no,” and “not applicable”. By developing instructions, acceptable, unacceptable, and non-applicable answers for each item were explained. The content validity ratio and content validity index for the overall scale were 0.57 and 0.83, respectively.

The designed tool can help clinicians in Iran to make more consistent judgments and more accurately identify older adults who are no longer able to manage their financial affairs.