Artikel:The instrument ‘Sense of Security in Care – Patients’ Evaluation’: its development and presentation
Door annelies_verachtert op Zat, 30/08/2014 - 00:00
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to report the development, construction, and psychometric properties
of the new instrument Sense of Security in Care – Patients’ Evaluation (SEC-P) in palliative home care.
Methods: The preliminary instrument was based on a review of the literature and an analysis of
qualitative interviews with patients about their sense of security. To test the instrument, 161 patients
(58% women) in palliative home care were recruited and participated in a structured interview based
on a comprehensive questionnaire (response rate 73%). We used principal component analysis to
identify subscales and tested the construction in correlation with other scales and questions
representing concepts that we expected to be related to sense of security in care.
Results: The principal component analysis resulted in three subscales: Care Interaction, Identity,
and Mastery, built on a total of 15 items. The component solution had an explained variance of
55%. Internal consistency of the subscales ranged from 0.84 to 0.69. Inter-scale correlations varied
between 0.40 and 0.59. The scales were associated to varying degrees with the quality of the care
process, perceived health, quality of life, stress, and general sense of security.
Conclusions: The developed SEC-P provides a three-component assessment of palliative home care
settings using valid and reliable scales. The scales were associated with other concepts in ways that
were expected. The SEC-P is a manageable means of assessment that can be used to improve quality
of care and in research focusing on patients’ sense of security in care.
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