Spiritual care is essential for the health and well-being of patients and their families, so nursing and midwifery students should have professional competency in this field.

The present study aimed to translate the Spiritual Care Competency Self-Assessment Tool for nursing and midwifery students into Persian and evaluate its psychometric properties.

This study has a methodological study design.

The present study was conducted from July 4 to November 19, 2023, at the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in west of Iran. The tool was translated into Persian using the forward-backward translation method. The construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with a total of 536 nursing and midwifery students. The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Also, the reliability of the tool was evaluated using the test–retest method. SPSS version 26 and Lisrel version 8 software were used in this study.

Face and content validity was confirmed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results of EFA and CFA confirmed the tool with 4 factors and 28 items. CFA results indicated a well-fitting model (comparative fit index [CFI] = .97, Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) = .92, goodness of fit index [GFI] = .91, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .05, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = .046). Pearson’s correlation coefficient confirmed a significant relationship between items, subscales, and the main scale. Also, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (.968) and test–retest (.867) confirmed the reliability of the Persian version of the tool.

The present study showed that the Persian version of the EPICC Spiritual Care, with 4 factors and 28 items, was suitable for validation and that its psychometric properties were acceptable according to COSMIN criteria. In general, the results showed that the Persian version of the EPICC Spiritual Care is a valid and reliable tool that students, preceptors, and educators can use in clinical settings as a practical way of discussing and evaluating spiritual care competency in Iran.

This study aims to validate the Palliative and Complex Chronic Pediatric Patients QoL Inventory (PACOPED QL), a new quality-of-life (QoL) assessment tool for pediatric palliative patients with complex chronic conditions. The goal is to create a comprehensive and inclusive instrument tailored to this unique population, addressing the gap in existing tools that do not meet these specific needs.

The validation process included a literature review and consultations with experts. A pilot study refined the items, followed by a cross-sectional study involving pediatric palliative patients and their caregivers. Statistical analyses, such as Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis for structural validity, were utilized.

The PACOPED QL, comprising 50 items across 8 domains and 6 subdomains, demonstrated strong reliability with Cronbach’s alpha and Guttman split-half reliability both exceeding .9. Validity assessments confirmed its suitability for children with complex illnesses. The tool was refined through expert consultations and pilot testing, reducing items from an initial 85 to a final 50, ensuring relevance and clarity.

The PACOPED QL shows strong reliability and validity in assessing QoL in pediatric palliative patients. Its comprehensive structure makes it a promising tool for clinical practice and research, addressing a critical need for a tailored assessment in this population. The instrument’s robust psychometric properties indicate its potential utility in improving the QoL assessment and care for children with life-threatening illnesses. Further studies are encouraged to confirm its effectiveness across various settings.

Demoralization, a prevalent form of psychological distress, significantly impacts patient care, particularly in terminally ill individuals, notably those diagnosed with cancer. This study aimed to assess psychometric properties of Farsi version of Demoralization Scale-II (DS-II) in Iranian cancer patients.

This study was descriptive-analytical cross-sectional research. The statistical population was cancer patients who sought treatment at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran throughout the 2021–2022. In the initial phase of the study, a preliminary sample comprising 200 patients was carefully selected through convenience sampling. After applying these criteria, 160 patients satisfactorily completed the questionnaires, forming the final study sample. They completed series of questionnaires that included sociodemographic information, DS-II, Scale of Happiness of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The evaluation included exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), assessments of convergent validity, and internal consistency reliability.

The CFA revealed a 2-factor model consistent with the original structure. The specific fit indices, including the Comparative Fit Index, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, and Goodness-of-Fit Index, were 0.99, 0.051, and 0.86, respectively. Significant correlation coefficients (p < 0.05) were found between the DS-II and the Beck Depression and MUNSH Happiness scales. The internal consistency of the DS-II, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha, yielded values of 0.91 for the meaning and purpose factor, 0.89 for the coping ability factor, and 0.92 for the total score.

The Farsi version of DS-II has demonstrated reliability and validity in evaluating demoralization among cancer patients in Iran. This tool can offer valuable insights into the psychological problems of terminally ill patients. Further research opportunities may include conducting longitudinal studies to track demoralization over time and exploring the impact of demoralization on the overall well-being and care of terminally ill patients in Iranian society.

The aim of this study was to develop the Nurse Competency Assessment Scale in Disaster Management (NCASDM) and to conduct psychometric evaluation.

It is a scale development study. Research data were collected between January and May 2023. In the sample of the study, as stated in the literature, it was aimed to reach at least 10 times the number of draft scale items (n = 600). The psychometric properties of the scale were tested with 697 nurses working in four different hospitals. A three-stage structure was used in the analysis of data: (1) creating the item pool, (2) preliminary evaluation of items, (3) refining of the scale and evaluation of psychometric properties. The content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and temporal stability of the scale were evaluated according to the scale development guidelines.

The scale items were obtained from online, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews conducted with nurses who experienced disasters or worked in disasters. The content validity index of the scale was found to be 0.95. According to the exploratory factor analysis, it was found that the scale consisted of 43 items and two subscales, and the subscales explained 79.094% of the total variance. The compliance indices obtained as a result of confirmatory factor analysis were acceptable and at good levels.

The NCASDM was found to be a psychometrically valid and reliable measurement tool. It can be used to evaluate the competency of nurses related to disaster management.

This methodological study aimed to establish the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Information Concealment Scale for Caregivers of palliative care patients.

The study was conducted between January and June 2023 with 155 caregivers who cared for patients hospitalized in the palliative care units of 2 hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed for validity analysis. Cronbach’s α, item-total correlation, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Pearson correlation analysis were used for reliability analysis.

Of the participants, 54.2% were female and 69% were married. The mean age was 37.96 ± 12.25 years. According to the exploratory factor analysis, the scale consisted of 3 subscales and 15 items. The first subscale of the scale was expressed as “misrepresentation of the disease’; the second subscale was defined as “concealment of information”; the third subscale was defined as “misrepresentation of the real situation.” As a result of the modifications made in confirmatory factor analysis, the goodness-of-fit values were as follows: CMIN/DF(X2/Sd) = 175.16/815 = 2.16; GFI = 0.88; CFI = 0.91; RMSEA = 0.079; RMR = .070; NFI = 0.90. The Cronbach’s α values of the subscale were between 0.79 and 0.87. ICC values were between 0.90 and 0.95 at a confidence interval of 95%. A positive correlation was determined between the subscales.

It was determined that the Turkish version of the Information Concealment Scale was a valid and reliable tool for caregivers.

Existing self-rated depression measurement tools possess a range of psychometric drawbacks, spanning a range of validity and reliability constructs. The gold standard self-rated depression scales contain several variable items that are often non-specific, require respondents to have a certain level of language understanding and limited scoring options resulting in low sensitivity. The Maudsley three-item visual analogue scale (M3VAS) was developed to address these challenges.

This study aimed to translate the M3VAS into Chinese and test its reliability and validity.

First, both M3VAS scales (assessing current severity and change in severity) were translated according to a standardised protocol to finalise the Chinese version. Reliability and validity were then examined among 550 young people with moderate to severe depression (patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score ≥15) in a cross-sectional opportunistic questionnaire survey.

The content validity of each item (six items, across both scales) ranged from 0.83 to 1.00. Exploratory factor analysis denoted a total of two common factors, with a variance contribution rate of 64.34%. The total score correlated positively with the PHQ-9 total score (r = 0.241, P < 0.01). The Chinese version of the M3VAS had good reliability and validity values, and the confirmatory factor model fit well.

The psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the M3VAS suggest that this scale can feasibly evaluate depression among young people in China.

Despite the growing interest in the prevalence and consequences of loneliness, the way it is measured still raises a number of questions. In particular, few studies have directly compared the psychometric properties of very short measures of loneliness to standard measures.

We conducted a large epidemiological study of midwife students (n = 1742) and performed a head-to-head comparison of the psychometric properties of the standard (20 items) and short version (3 items) of the UCLA Loneliness Scales (UCLA-LS). All participants completed the UCLA-LS-20, UCLA-LS-3, as well as other measures of mental health, including anxiety and depression.

First, as predicted, we found that the two loneliness scales were strongly associated with each other. Second, when using the dimensional scores of the scales, we showed that the internal reliability, convergent-, discriminant-, and known-groups validities were high and of similar magnitude between the UCLA-LS-20 and the UCLA-LS-3. Third, when the scales were dichotomized, the results were more mixed. The sensitivity and/or specificity of the UCLA-LS-3 against the UCLA-LS-20 were systematically below acceptable thresholds, regardless of the dichotomizing process used. In addition, the prevalence of loneliness was strikingly variable as a function of the cut-offs used.

Overall, we showed that the UCLA-LS-3 provided an adequate dimensional measure of loneliness that is very similar to the UCLA-LS-20. On the other hand, we were able to highlight more marked differences between the scales when their scores were dichotomized, which has important consequences for studies estimating, for example, the prevalence of loneliness.