Open Access

ARTICLE

Italian Validation of the Healthcare Needs Scale for Youth with Congenital Heart Disease and Its Short-Form Development

by Federica Dellafiore¹, Serena Francesca Flocco¹, Cristina Arrigoni², Serena Barello³, Tiziana Nania¹, Maria Giovanna Russo⁴, Berardo Sarubbi⁵, Arianna Magon¹, Francesco Pittella¹, Massimo Chessa⁶, Rosario Caruso^1,*

1 Health Professions Research and Development Unit, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy
2 Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Section of Hygiene, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
3 Department of Psychology, EngageMinds HUB–Consumer, Food & Health Engagement Research Center, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
4 Paediatric Cardiology, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
5 Adult Congenital Heart Disease Unit, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
6 Department of Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Disease, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy

* Corresponding Author: Rosario Caruso. Email:

Congenital Heart Disease 2020, 15(3), 167-180. https://doi.org/10.32604/CHD.2020.012438

Received 30 June 2020; Accepted 10 July 2020; Issue published 15 July 2020

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed at providing an Italian short version of the ‘healthcare needs scale for youth with congenital heart disease’ (I-HNS-CHD-s), describing its construct validity and reliability. Methods: A multi-method and multi-phase design were adopted. Phase one referred to the cultural-linguistic validation of the original scale into Italian. Phase two tasted content and face validity of the Italian-translated scale. Phase three included the psychometric validation process of scale, encompassed two different steps: first cross-sectional data collection (sample A) purposed at determining the psychometric characteristics of the I-HNS-CHD-s, using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Then, a second round of cross-sectional data collection (sample B) was performed using the version of I-HNS-CHD-s derived from the previous step, and it purposed at confirming the scale factor structure and at assessing its reliability. Results: I-HNS-CHD-s showed evidence of face and content validity, adequate construct and internal consistency and stability. Specifically, I-HNS-CHD-s had 14 items kept by four domains, labelled as follows: Healthcare education, clinical support, emotional support, continuum of care. These domains were predicted by a secondorder factor, which was labelled as Healthcare needs. Overall I-HNS-CHD-s encompassed only the items that showed high performance in the psychometric analysis. Accordingly, I-HNS-CHD-s is a shorter form of the original scale (14 items instead of 25). Conclusions: I-HNS-CHD-s is a psychometrically robust measure of the healthcare and psychosocial needs of Italian adolescents and young adults with congenital heart disease.

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