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Background & Aim: It is crucial to assess communication skills among health workers using valid culture-based instruments. This study aimed to develop and assess psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Communication Skills Scale among Zanjan Health Volunteers.

Methods & Materials: In this study, a total of 191 health volunteers participated in a self-rating assessment of the Communication Skills Scale (CSS). Moreover, 14 experts were asked to rate each item based on the relevance, clarity, and simplicity. Through a literature review, we developed an instrument with 43 items. The validity of the instrument was determined using the impact item method, content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), face validity and exploratory factor analysis. Reliability of the instrument was reported by Alpha Cronbach coefficient. The CSS finally contained 35 items, divided into two categories: general and specific communication skills.

Results: Of 43 items, those with impact item index over 1.5, CVR over 0.51, and CVI over 0.79 were considered as valid while the rest were discarded resulting in a 35-item scale. Factor analysis was carried out to determine the relationship among the items of the CSS. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the list of items to 30, which were divided into seven groups with a minimum eigenvalue of 1 for each factor, capable of predicting 68.8% of the variance. Internal reliability of the scale was determined by alpha Cronbach coefficient (0.91).

Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the CSS is a valid and reliable instrument for assessment of the communication skills among health volunteers in Zanjan. These findings could be used for developing similar instruments in other health worker groups.

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  Background & Aim: The aim of present study was to assess psychometric properties of premenstrual symptoms screening tool (PSST) to provide a fast and appropriate screening tool for women who suffer from severe PMS/PMDD and their clinicians .

  Methods & Materials: It was a cross-sectional study. The study included 404 female students studying at Semnan University who were randomly selected using stratified method. In order to assess psychometric properties, we used the exploratory factor analysis, convergent validity (evaluated by symptom checklist-90-Revised), criterion-related validity (calculated by comparing psychiatrist diagnosis and PSST). Sensitivity and specificity coefficients of optimal cutoff points were calculated by the ROC Curve and construct validity was evaluated by the PSST ability to separate PMS and PMDD groups from healthy group. Reliability was evaluated using the cronbach’s alpha and test-retest method . 

  Results: The p rinciple component analysis revealed that the PSST consists of four factors: interest reduction, interference in functions, physical and neurotic symptoms, and eating and sleep patterns. As an evidence of convergent validity, PSST scores showed significant correlations with the SCL-90-R’s dimensions. Agreement coefficient between psychiatrists and the PSST diagnosis was 0.314 for the PMS and 0.80 for the PMDD. This tool separated the PMS and PMDD groups from healthy group well. Optimal Cutoff point for separating females suffering from PMDD was 2.22. The sensitivity and specificity coefficients were 0.9 and 0.77, respectively. The cronbach’s alpha was 0.91 and the test-retest reliability was 0.56 for the total tool .

  Conclusion: The translated version of the premenstrual symptoms screening tool can be used as a valid tool for Iranian females. This instrument can be useful for rapid screening and identifying women who suffer from severe PMS/PMDD, especially in clinical settings .

  

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Background & Aim: Urinary incontinence is a common disorder in women. Pelvic floor muscle exercise is one of the effective treatment methods. Self-efficacy is considered an effective and strong predictor of willingness to perform and continue these exercises. In Iran, there is no appropriate tool for assessing self-efficacy. So this study was performed to determine the psychometric properties of the Broome scale in women with urinary incontinence.
Methods & Materials: A psychometric study of the Broome scale was conducted on women with urinary incontinence who referred to health centers affiliated to Tehran University of medical sciences in 2015.In this study, following processes were implemented: translation, back translation, face validity, content validity using CVR and CVI, reliability using Cronbach’s α coefficient, and construct validity using explanatory factor analysis.
Results: The face validity was confirmed through the modification of ambiguous items based on the patients’ views. Content validity (CVR= 0.8 and CVI= 0.8 to 0.9) and reliability (Cronbach’s α= 0.96) were also confirmed. Explanatory factor analysis showed two factors with eigen value more than 1 including pelvic floor exercise self-efficacy in usual and special situations. These factors explained 82.08 percent of the total variance.
Conclusion: The reliability and validity of the Broome scale were confirmed for using by Iranian women with urinary incontinence, and this scale can be used to measure these women's self-efficacy in performing pelvic floor exercises.
 

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Background & Aim: Maintaining and improving the health of the elderly through effective interventions requires the recognition of their lifestyle, including exercise using a valid and appropriate culture-specific tool. The aim of this study was to design and evaluate the psychometric properties of a tool for measuring exercise self-efficacy in the elderly.
Methods & Materials: A sequential exploratory mixed method study was performed in the form of a questionnaire with two qualitative and quantitative sections in 2019. The qualitative section consisted of item generation including three stages: theoretical stage (targeted search of existing literature), field work (semi-structured interviews with the elderly) and final analysis (integration of the results from the two previous stages). In the quantitative section, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire was evaluated using face, content and construct validity as well as the reliability through internal consistency and stability.
Results: Out of 37 initial items, four items were removed after calculating the item impact score.  Seven items were removed after assessing the content validity ratio and content validity index. Also, five items were omitted due to having a load factor less than 0.03. The result of exploratory factor analysis consisted of three factors “recognition”, “situational compatibility” and “self-control” which all together could explain 90.180% of the variance. The Cronbach’s alpha and the Intraclass correlation coefficient were found to be 0.957 and 0.949 respectively.
Conclusion: The data analysis approved that the designed tool can be used for measuring exercise self-efficacy among the elderly due to having acceptable reliability and validity, simplicity and a short completion time.
 

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Background & Aim: Performing daily activities is a major element of quality of life in heart failure patients. The Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) is a tool to measure factional capacity. We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the DASI in patients with heart failure.
Methods & Materials: In this methodological study using convenience sampling, we included 120 patients with heart failure referred to the heart clinic of Afshar hospital, Yazd in 2018.  We first translated the original DASI to Farsi using forward and backward translation method. Then, we evaluated its face validity, content validity, criterion-related validity, construct validity (Exploratory Factor Analysis), and reliability (internal consistency).
Results: In quantitative content validity, the content validity index and content validity ratio were confirmed. The criterion-related validity was confirmed using the Spearman correlation coefficient between the New York Heart Association functional classification scores and the DASI score (r=-0.77, P<0.001) with a significant correlation. To assess construct validity, exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors, explaining 52.61% of the total variance. Factor 1 included items with high MET values and factor 2 included those with low MET values. The reliability of the DASI was determined using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient that was 0.81.
Conclusion: The DASI is of good validity and reliability and due to its appropriate psychometric properties, this tool can be used to evaluate the functional status of patients with heart failure.

 

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Background & Aim: Today, ageing is a challenge for health and care systems, and one of its main consequences is an increase in the readmission rates. Therefore, in all countries, efforts are being made to reduce the readmission rate. The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale was designed to understand patients' readiness levels for discharge. This study was conducted to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale.
Methods & Materials: In this methodological study, a convenience sample of 500 elderly patients admitted to hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences was selected in 2020-2021. The instrument was translated using the forward-backwards method. The psychometric properties of the final version of the instrument were assessed by employing exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (validity) and Cronbach's alpha and the Guttman's split-half coefficient (reliability).
Results: In the factor analysis, all items had a factor loading above 0.3 and, all of them were retained. The goodness of fit indices confirmed the model and a good fit of the model. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole scale and the Guttman's split-half coefficient were 0.92 and 0.86, respectively.
Conclusion: The results of our study supported the four-dimensional structure of this instrument and indicated that this instrument has adequate validity and reliability. Therefore, nurses and doctors can use this tool as a suitable method to measure the elderly patients' readiness for discharge and to achieve a safe transfer from the hospital to home.

 

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Background & Aim: Modern professional nursing necessitates the use of information technology to facilitate clinical decision-making and obtain optimal patient care outcomes. The aim of this study was to conduct a psychometric evaluation and adapt the Nursing Informatics Competency Self-Assessment tool for use in Iran.
Methods & Materials: The present research employed a descriptive and methodological design. Initially, the original tool was translated into Persian following a standardized procedure. Subsequent assessments of face and content validity were conducted through expert reviews and the calculation of the content validity index. Reliability was evaluated using both Cronbach's alpha and test-retest methods, including the calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient. Data analysis was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis on a convenience sample of 300 nursing students from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Abadan University of Medical Sciences, utilizing SPSS version 22 and LISREL version 8.8.
Results: The content validity index for all items exceeded the standard threshold of 0.79, indicating satisfactory validity scores for each item. The final version of the tool demonstrated acceptable reliability with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.898 and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.893. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the fitness of a five-factor structure for the Persian version of the tool. Standardized factor loadings showed a good fit and satisfactory construct validity for the tool within the Iranian context.
Conclusion: The Persian version of the Nursing Informatics Competency Self-Assessment Tool exhibits acceptable psychometric properties within the Iranian nursing population and is recommended for use as a credible instrument in nursing practice.