Abstract
BACKGROUND: Caregivers of patients with heart failure (HF) provide self-care support. Caregiver Contribution to Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (CC-SCHFI) version 2 assesses the caregiver's contribution (CC) to self-care maintenance, symptom perception, and self-care management of patients with HF. We translated CC-SCHFI version 2 into Japanese and evaluated its psychometric properties. METHODS AND RESULTS: This cross-sectional study enrolled Japanese caregivers of patients with HF. To determine structural validity, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using the structure of the original version. Convergent validity assessed the association between each scale and self-efficacy. For internal consistency, model-based internal consistency coefficients were calculated. The participants were 103 caregivers. Regarding structural validity, the original 2-factor structure was appropriate for the CC to self-care maintenance scale. In contrast, due to model instability or low discriminant validity, 1-factor models with modifications were adopted for the CC to symptom perception and self-care management scales, showing an acceptable fit. Regarding convergent validity, all scales showed significant associations with self-efficacy. Model-based internal consistency coefficients were sufficient for all scales (0.803, 0.888, and 0.861 for the CC to self-care maintenance, symptom perception, and self-care management scales, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The Japanese CC-SCHFI version 2 is a reliable and valid scale for assessing the CC to self-care in Japanese patients with HF.