The Chinese Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale-revised (C-MISS-R): development and validation

Area of Science:

• Medical Sociology
• Psychometrics
• Oncology Nursing

Background:

• The Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (MISS) is a key instrument for assessing patient satisfaction with medical consultations.
• Validation of a translated short-form of the original MISS was performed on Hong Kong Chinese women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate a revised Chinese version of the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (C-MISS-R) for use with Chinese female patients.
• To assess the psychometric properties, including factor structure, reliability, and validity, of the C-MISS-R.

Main Methods:

• The four highest-scoring items from the MISS Cognitive and Affective sub-scales were administered in Chinese (C-MISS) to 224 female outpatients.
• Phrasing revisions (C-MISS-R) were tested on 82 women, with factor structure stability assessed via random split testing.
• Convergent, divergent, and criterion validation were conducted on 405 women using various instruments.

Main Results:

• The revised scale (C-MISS-R) demonstrated a suitable two-factor structure, explaining 65.2% of the variance (Cognitive: 36.6%, Affective: 28.8%).
• Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was strong for both sub-scales (Cognitive: 0.84, Affective: 0.74) and the total scale (0.83).
• The scale showed acceptable validity through correlations with treatment decision-making difficulties, self-efficacy, optimism, and psychological morbidity, with test-retest reliability at 0.410.

Conclusions:

• The C-MISS-R possesses appropriate factor structure and psychometric properties for consultation studies involving Chinese female populations.
• Further validation studies are recommended to extend its use to male populations.