An Examination of the Construct Validity of the Spiritual Distress Scale for Patients with Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in Thailand

การตรวจสอบความตรงเชิงโครงสร้างของแบบวัดภาวะบีบคั้นทางจิตวิญญาณสำหรับผู้ป่วยโรคไม่ติดต่อเรื้อรังประเทศไทย

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the construct validity of the Spiritual Distress Scale for Chronic Non-Communicable Disease Patients in Thailand. The sample consisted of 400 chronic non-communicable disease patients receiving services at 8 subdistrict health promotion hospitals in Thailand. Data were collected from May to August 2023. The research instruments included 1) a personal data record form and 2) the Spiritual Distress Scale for Patients with Chronic Non-Communicable Disease, which demonstrated content validity of 0.97 and        a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.98. Descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, were used to analyze personal data.  Construct validity was examined using confirmatory factor analysis.

The results showed that the Spiritual Distress Scale for Thai Patients with Chronic Non-Communicable Disease (the SDS-Thai-NCDs) had good construct validity, with the following fit indices: χ² = 1483.03, df = 745, χ²/df = 1.99, CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.05, and SRMR = 0.04. The scale consisted of five components: 1) loss of self-esteem, meaning, and purposes of life; 2) loss of relationship with oneself and others; 3) loss of hope and inner strength; 4) loss of relationship with nature and higher powers; and 5) physical expressions. The factor loadings ranged from 0.68 to 0.95, and the coefficient of determination (R²) ranged from 46.60% to 90.60%. This scale can be used to assess spiritual distress, allowing for appropriate spiritual care for chronic non-communicable disease patients experiencing spiritual distress.