A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE NEW MALAYSIAN INDEX OF ELDERLY WELL-BEING: A PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Malaysia is experiencing rapid ageing. With such rapid demographic changes, the need for understanding elderly well-being become a necessity. This study aims to validate a new developed Malaysian index of elderly well-being (MIEW) among the Malaysian community-dwelling elderly. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the elderly in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The preliminary MIEW contained 40 items and is composed of five factors; economic, health, social, psycho-spiritual and environmental well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis using maximum likelihood estimation method was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the instrument. A total of 629 respondents participated in this study, with an average age of 70.36 years old. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded 18 items with five factors. The model fitted the data well, showing strong construct validity and reliability of the instrument. The findings from this study suggested an acceptable level of validity and reliability for the new instrument. However, MIEW should be used with caution as the discriminant validity of social and environmental well-being was unsatisfactory. Further research in this section is recommended.