Abstract
BACKGROUND: Enabling factors help women to overcome financial and structural barriers to health care, thereby enhancing their ability to access services and adopt healthy behaviors. Unfortunately, there is a lack of data regarding these enabling factors. This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the Women's Health-Enabling Factors Questionnaire (WHEFQ) in Iranian menopausal women as well as determine its interrelationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 571 menopausal women to assess the psychometric properties, including construct validity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for this purpose. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's α and McDonald's Omega. The study also investigated the predictive value of the model and the relationships between various constructs. Data analysis was performed using SPSS v. 27 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and AMOS v. 24 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) software. RESULTS: The construct validity was assessed using EFA, which resulted in the identification of 14 items distributed across four subscales. These subscales explained for 55.17% of the total variance. The CFA displayed a strong model fit, with indices such as root mean square error of approximation = 0.02, goodness of fit index (GFI) =0.97, adjusted GFI = 0.95, comparative fit index = 0.98, normed fit index = 0.93, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.98, incremental fit index = 0.98, and RMR = 0.03 (χ (2)/df = 1.23, P = 0.17). The reliability of the 10-item WHEFQ was also confirmed with Cronbach's α and McDonald's Omega coefficients of 0.74 and 0.75, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The WHEFQ, which consists of 10 items, has been validated and proven reliable for assessing health-enabling factors in Iranian menopausal women. The findings indicate that personal resources are significantly associated with social facilities and skills.