Translation and psychometric evaluation of chronic illness anticipated stigma scale (CIASS) among patients in Ethiopia

• Published in: PloS one 2022, Vol.17 (1), p.e0262744-e0262744
• Main Authors: Salih, Mohammed Hassen, Wettergren, Lena, Lindgren, Helena, Erlandsson, Kerstin, Mekonen, Hussen, Derseh, Lemma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anticipation, Psychological; Biology and Life Sciences; Chronic Disease - psychology; Chronic illnesses; Chronically ill; Consistency; Convergence; Correlation; Disease; Ethiopia; Evaluation; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Families & family life; Female; Health aspects; Health care; Health sciences; Health surveys; Hospitals; Humans; Illnesses; Language; Male; Medical personnel; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental disorders; Midwifery; Model testing; Multivariate statistical analysis; Nursing schools; Patients; People and Places; Prejudice; Psychological aspects; Psychometrics; Public health; Quality of life; Quantitative psychology; Reliability analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Sample size; Social Sciences; Social Stigma; Software; Stereotypes; Stigma; Stigma (Social psychology); Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Translating; Translations and translating; Womens health; Workers
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262744

Stigma is common among patients with chronic illnesses. It affects the delivery of healthcare for not addressing the psychological components and may interfere with the patient's attendance to necessary health care services. Therefore, a valid and reliable instrument to measure anticipated stigma related to chronic illness is vital to inform possible interventions. This study aimed to translate the Chronic Illness Anticipated Stigma Scale (CIASS) into the Amharic language and evaluate its psychometric properties in Ethiopia. The CIASS was translated into Amharic language using standard procedures. The Amharic version was completed by 173 patients (response rate 96%) with chronic illness from three referral hospitals in the Amhara region. Internal consistency was examined through Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was evaluated by confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity by using a Pearson correlation of P-value less than or equal to 0.05. The internal consistency was estimated at Cronbach alpha of 0.92. By using a structural equation model, and modification indices a model fitness testing was run and shows a root mean squared error of approximation 0.049 (90% CI, 0.012-0.075). The structural validity results in 78.8% of confirmatory factor analysis showed from the extraction of the three-dimension (components). Validity tests for convergent by using Pearson correlation positively correlated with common mental distress and negatively correlated with quality of life-BREF, and the construct validity shows a good valid tool to CIASS. The Amharic language version of the chronic illness anticipated stigma scale shows a satisfactory level of reliability and validity on different psychometric measures of assessment. The tool may be useful for future researchers and patients with chronic illness in the Amharic-speaking population. Moreover, it will be used to see the psychological burden related to chronic illness and for comparison among international population groups.