Evaluation of the Reliability and Validity of the Persian Version of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia for the Heart

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Despite the benefits of physical activity, patients with coronary artery disease are reluctant to participate in physical activities, known as kinesiophobia. The only questionnaire designed to investigate kinesiophobia in patients with heart and pulmonary diseases is the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia for the heart. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale in patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients who underwent PCI or CABG were included in this cross-sectional study. The original version of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia was translated and cross-culturally adapted into Persian, based on Beaton's guidelines. Patients were evaluated using the Tampa scale of Kinesiophobia (FA-heart), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Fifty participants completed the scale twice within 2 weeks. RESULTS: Content validity was checked using Lawshe's method (0.84). The Cronbach's alpha of the scale was calculated as 0.77 after removing four items with a low corrected item-total correlation. The two-way random intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.95. The correlation between the scores of Tampa, HADS, and IPAQ were 0.42 and 0.28, respectively, considered a poor correlation. Exploratory factor analysis using parallel analysis revealed that the Persian version of the Tampa scale of Kinesiophobia (FA-heart) is a unidimensional scale. Neither ceiling nor floor effects were observed. DISCUSSION: The Persian version of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (FA-heart) is a reliable and valid tool that can be used in future research to evaluate kinesiophobia in heart disease.