Caregiver role strain: bi-national study of content validation

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Research
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Caregiver Role Strain is a significant nursing diagnosis impacting patient outcomes.
• Accurate content validity is crucial for the reliable application of nursing diagnoses.
• Fehring's model provides a framework for assessing the validity of diagnostic characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the content validity of the nursing diagnosis Caregiver Role Strain.
• To assess the relevance of defining characteristics for Caregiver Role Strain using Fehring's model.
• To explore potential differences in characteristic relevance assessment between Colombian and Brazilian nurses.

Main Methods:

• Content validation was performed by 15 nurses (6 Colombian, 9 Brazilian) using Fehring's model.
• A 5-point Likert scale assessed the relevance of 36 defining characteristics.
• The Mann-Whitney test analyzed inter-group differences in relevance ratings.

Main Results:

• 22 of 36 defining characteristics were identified as major, 13 as secondary, and 1 as irrelevant (rash).
• The overall content validity index was 0.79, indicating adequate validity.
• No significant differences were found in characteristic relevance assessment between Colombian and Brazilian nurses.

Conclusions:

• The majority of defining characteristics for Caregiver Role Strain are considered relevant by nursing experts.
• Findings demonstrate consensus across different national groups regarding characteristic relevance.
• This validation supports the robust content validity of the Caregiver Role Strain diagnosis for clinical use.