TITLE:
Psychometric Properties of the Swedish Version of the Fear of Complications Questionnaire
AUTHORS:
Marie Olsen, Therese Anderbro, Susanne Amsberg, Janeth Leksell, Erik Moberg, Jan Lisspers, Soffia Gudbjörnsdottir, Unn-Britt Johansson
KEYWORDS:
Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetes Complications, Factor Analysis, Fear, Psychometrics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases,
Vol.4 No.4,
April
15,
2014
ABSTRACT: Objectives: To translate and evaluate the
psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Fear of Complications
Questionnaire. Design: Cross-sectional study design and scale development.
Settings: Totally, 469 adults (response rate 63.5%) with Type 1 diabetes completed
the questionnaires. Participants were recruited from two university hospitals
in Sweden. Participants: Eligible patients were those who met the following
inclusion criteria: diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, diabetes duration of at
least 1 year and aged at least 18 years. Methods: The Fear of Complications
Questionnaire was translated using the forward-backward translation method.
Factor analyses of the questionnaire were performed in two steps using both exploratory
and confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent validity was examined using the
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Fear of Hypoglycaemia Fear
Survey. Internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach’s alpha. Results:
Exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor solution. One factor
contained three items having to do with fear of kidney-related complications
and one factor included the rest of items concerning fear of other
diabetes-related complications, as well as fear of complications in general.
Internal consistency was high Cronbach’s alpha 0.96. The findings also gave
support for convergent validity, with significant positive correlations between
measures (r = 0.51 to 0.54). Conclusion: The clinical relevance of the
identified two-factor model with a structure of one dominant subdomain may be
considered. We suggest, however a one-factor model covering all the items as a
relevant basis to assess fear of complications among people with Type 1 diabetes.