Quality of Life in European Older Adults of SHARE Wave 7: Comparing the Old and the Oldest-Old

Abstract

CASP-12 (Control, Autonomy, Self-realization, and Pleasure scale) is one of the most common internationally used measures for quality of life in older adults, although its structure is not clearly established. Current research aims to test the factor structure of the CASP-12, so as to provide evidence on reliability and external validity, and to test for measurement invariance across age groups. Data from 61,355 Europeans (≥60 years old) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe wave 7 were used. CASP-12, EURO-D (European depression scale), self-perceived health, and life satisfaction measurements were included. Reliability and validity coefficients, competing confirmatory factor models, and standard measurement invariance routine were estimated. A second-order factor model with the original factor structure was retained. The scale showed adequate reliability coefficients except for the autonomy dimension. The correlation coefficients for external validity were all statistically significant. Finally, CASP-12 is scalar invariant across age. We conclude that the best-fitting factor structure retained allows using CASP-12 either by factors, or as an overall score, depending on the research interests. Findings related to CASP-12 measurement invariance encourage its use in the oldest-old too. When comparing the dimensions across age groups, as people age, autonomy slightly increases and the rest of the dimensions decline.