The Italian Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit Questionnaire: A Psychometric Evaluation Using the Rasch Model

Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Jul 11;11(14):1997. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11141997.

Abstract

Quality measurement of the intensive care unit (ICU) should include families' perspectives, their satisfaction with the care process and outcomes, and the evaluation of actions to improve their psychological health and wellbeing. The current study was designed to validate the Italian version of the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit (FS-ICU) using the Rasch model. Results included reliability and separation for items and persons, item fit statistics, unidimensionality, and item characteristic curve. The study was conducted between August 2022 and February 2023. A total of 108 family members (mean age 54.9 years) completed the FS-ICU questionnaire. The instrument had a moderate discrimination ability and only five items (#21, #23, #10, #22, and #24) exhibited a misfit. The Rasch dimension explained 52.1% of the variance in the data, while the unexplained variance in the first contrast is 7.2%, which indicates a possible second dimension. FS-ICU was shown to be beneficial as an assessment instrument for family member satisfaction in the ICU, despite some flaws that need to further be addressed to improve the scale.

Keywords: Rasch analysis; family satisfaction; intensive care unit; psychometrics; quality improvement.

Grants and funding

This research received funding from a European Federation of Critical Care Nursing Associations (EfCCNa) grant and from a European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) award (Family partnership Award 2021). These funders were not involved in the design, conduct, or analysis of the present project.