New abbreviated version of Lubben social network scale revised in Korea

Purpose There has been need for valid and reliable short version of Lubben Social Network Scales Revised(LSNS-R) for convenient assessment of social networks and social supports since both the full set of LSNS-R and even in 6-question-based-LSNS-R (LSNS-6) could be burdensome in many survey areas.

Methods A total of three hundred elderly population in one rural district in South Korea became the study population for assessment using LSNS-R, and which was selected out of a nationally representative survey (Community Health Survey) conducted in 2008. We constructed several combinations based on factor analysis results and greater-than-0.7 was used as cut-off value of Cronbach's á in this study. The known-groups technique between individual living with partner and living alone was used to test validity of new combination.

Results Cronbach's á was less than 0.7(0.379-0.650) in all combinations of two questions from subscale (family and friend) whereas Cronbach's á was greater than 0.7 in 12 of 54 combinations when LSNS-R was divided into three factors. Among these 12 combinations, a combination of Q1, Q5, and Q9 had the greatest correlation coefficient with LSNS-R (0.941) while the correlation coefficient between LSNS-R and LSNS-6 was 0.939. In all tests (LSNS-R, LSNS-6, and a new combination using aforementioned three questions), individual with partner had higher score than individual alone. (p-value < 0.05)

Implication We conclude the smallest number of questions that make abbreviated scale of LSNS-R reliable is three. and new combination scale(Q1, Q5, and Q9) can be useful with other survey.