Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Partners in Health Scale Among Iranian Adults With Chronic Diseases

Objectives: Characterizing the psychometric attributes of the Persian variant of partners in health (PIH) in multiple sclerosis (MS), Diabetes, and Low Back Pain (LBP) patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, ۱۸۳ MS, diabetes, and LBP patients (۷۰ male, ۱۱۳ female) were treated with PIH post-forward-backward translation. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for studying the factor structure. Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s Ω coefficients were used to analyze PIH internal consistency. We used an interclass correlation coefficient to evaluate test-retest reliability. Criterion validity was determined by studying the correlation of PIH and Short Form (۳۶) Health Survey (SF-۳۶), Diabetes Self-Management Scale (DSMS), and Self-Efficacy in Chronic Disease Self-Management (SES۶G). Results: The median age of the participants was ۴۹.۷۳±۱۵.۱۶ years, ۱۱۳ (۶۱.۷۵%) of them were female, ۶۴ (۳۵.۰%) had MS, ۶۶ (۳۶.۱%) had diabetes, and ۵۳ (۲۹.۰%) had LBP. Content validity was determined across all areas (clarity, relevancy, simplicity) by a content validity index ≥۰.۸۲. Additionally, all items were confirmed via a content validity ratio ≥۰.۷۸. The outcome of CFA depicts that the statistics presented as model fit were as follows: CFI= ۰.۹۳۸, NFI= ۰.۸۹۹, and RMSEA= ۰.۰۸۵. All PIH items exhibited valid internal consistency (۰.۸۸۶-۰.۸۹۳). The PIH showed sufficient test-retest reliability regarding its corresponding subscales (۰.۵۵۴-۰.۶۷۹). The construct validity was confirmed by the total scores of PIH correlated with the total score of SF-۳۶, SES۶G, and DSMS. Discussion: The Persian variant of the PIH showed sufficient validity and reliability as a measure to assess self-management in patients suffering from chronic disease (MS, diabetes, and LBP).