Psychometric properties of Spiritual Needs Questionnaire in Iranian cancer patients

Introduction & Aim: One of the most important requirements of cancer patients is spiritual needs, for the evaluation of which a valid and reliable instrument is needed. Due to the lack of suitable instrument to study the spiritual needs of cancer patients, this study was conducted to psychometrically evaluate the spiritual needs questionnaire of cancer patients in Iran. Methods: In this study, methodology, psychometric properties of the Farsi version of the spiritual needs questionnaire (Büssing et al.) were evaluated based on the model proposed by Wilde et al (2005). The study population included cancer patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital Cancer Institute (the largestreferral center for cancer patients in Iran) in which 400 of them were selected randomly based on the inclusion criteria. The questionnaire was translated into Farsi and translated into English and editorial comments of the questionnaire designers were applied. Then, the content, face and construct validity (with confirmatory factor analysis) as well as the internal consistency and reliability of the Farsi version were assessed. The data were analyzed using SPSS 18 and LISREL 8.5.Result: In the confirmatory factor analysis, the original 4 factors version with 19 phrases was not confirmed. Afterwards, exploratory factor analysis was carried out in which phrases were included in 3dimensions of Peace and Actively Giving, Religion and Existence, which explained 48.1% of the variance. Later, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, which showed a good fit of the model (CFI=0.94 and GFI=0.94 and RMSEA=0.071, AGFI =0.96). Cronbach s alpha was α=0.91 for the whole spiritual needs questionnaire. Cronbach s alpha values ranged from 0.76 to 0. 86 for the three factors. Intra-class correlation coefficient was ICC=0.82 between the two tests performed with a two-week interval. Conclusion: The modified Farsi version spiritual needs questionnaire shows good psychometric properties for patients and can be used in investigating the spiritual needs of Iranian cancer patients

کلیدواژه ها:

Spiritual need ، Psychometric ، Questionnaire ، Validity ، Reliability ، Confirmatory factor analysis ، Exploratory factor analysis