Psychometric properties of the Persian version of patient family engagement in intensive care units: A methodological study

Considering the critical conditions of patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) and the inability of many of them to make decisions about the treatment process, family engagement is necessary. The engagement level of patients' families needs to be measured. This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Persian version of patient family engagement in ICUs. The present research is a methodological study. The family engagement measure (12 items) in Persian was psychometrically tested in this research. After translation, face and content validity were determined by patients' families and experts. Forty-two samples were selected to check the construct validity. The reliability of the instrument was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22, sample adequacy index via the Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO), and Bartlett's test were used to analyze the data. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated to assess the reliability and internal correlation of the questionnaire items, indicating whether all subgroups measure the same characteristic. Four questions with scores less than 0.56 were deleted in the content validity review phase. The remaining eight questions were subject to exploratory factor analysis, and finally, a version of the eight questions was prepared. The tool's reliability, calculated using Cronbach's alpha, was 0.78. The study results showed that the Persian version of the psychometric instrument has appropriate validity and reliability to measure the engagement of family members of patients hospitalized in ICUs and can be used in Iran.