Psychometric Validation of the Arabic Version of the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory for Patients With Chronic Conditions.

Background and Purpose: Self-care, involving symptom management, treatment adherence, and lifestyle changes, is crucial for managing chronic conditions and enhancing patient quality of life. The Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory (SC-CII), grounded in the middle-range theory of self-care, has been validated in various languages but not in Arabic. Thus, this study aimed to translate the SC-CII into Arabic (SC-CII-Ar) and assess its psychometric properties among Arab patients with chronic conditions. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in three hospitals located in Oman, Jordan, and Egypt. The sample included patients with chronic diseases, recruited conveniently. The SC-CII was translated following the World Health Organization guidelines, involving initial translation, synthesis, back translation, expert committee review, and pretesting. The psychometric evaluation included internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and construct validity assessed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: The sample comprised 37.5% participants from Egypt, 37.5% from Jordan, and 25% from Oman, with a mean age of 47.6 years (SD = 15.5), and the majority were females (54.8%). CFA confirmed the two-dimensional structure of the Self-Care Maintenance and Management scales and the unidimensional structure of the Self-Care Monitoring scale. Internal consistency was high (coefficient alpha of >.80 for all scales). Test–retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient of >.90 for all scales). Conclusions: The SC-CII-Ar is a reliable and valid tool for assessing self-care behaviors among Arabic-speaking patients with chronic diseases. It facilitates culturally sensitive research and practice, promoting effective self-care, and potentially improving health outcomes in the Arab world.