Perceived Enactment of Autonomy and Related Sociodemographic Factors Among Non‐Institutionalized Elders

The purpose of this study was to assess empirical data on the perceived enactment of autonomy (PEA), Chinese version, and to explore factors related to PEA among non-institutionalized elderly. A purposive sample of 165 subjects older than 65 years was recruited in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. Five subjects failed to answer their questionnaires completely; the total effective sample was thus 160. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The structured questionnaire consisted of two parts, assessing sociodemographic information and the PEA scale, Chinese version. Subjects had a high PEA score (mean, 3.38), with the greatest score in individuality (mean, 3.54), followed by self-direction (mean, 3.49) and freedom (mean, 3.16). Multiple regression analysis showed that the need for assistance in activities of daily living (beta = -0.62), overall health status (beta = 0.20), marital status (beta = 0.14), and age (beta = -0.13) significantly affected PEA in these elderly subjects and explained 61.9% of the total variance of PEA in this population. Based on these results, we provide substantive suggestions to practitioners and researchers. Possible future studies could expand the sample size using a random sampling method or examine factors related to PEA in order to learn more about PEA and apply it to clinical practice.