Open Access
ARTICLE
Italian Validation of the Healthcare Needs Scale for Youth with Congenital Heart Disease and Its Short-Form Development
Federica Dellafiore1, Serena Francesca Flocco1, Cristina Arrigoni2, Serena Barello3, Tiziana Nania1,
Maria Giovanna Russo4, Berardo Sarubbi5, Arianna Magon1, Francesco Pittella1, Massimo Chessa6, Rosario Caruso1,*
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.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Dellafiore, F., Flocco, S. F., Arrigoni, C., Barello, S., Nania, T. et al. (2020). Italian Validation of the Healthcare Needs Scale for Youth with Congenital Heart Disease and Its Short-Form Development.
Congenital Heart Disease, 15(3), 167–180.