Development and psychometric analysis of care needs scale for mothers of children with congenital heart disease

Purpose This cross-sectional study aimed to create and evaluate a care needs scale for mothers of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) to determine its psychometric properties. Design and methods This methodological research was conducted with 155 mothers whose children were diagnosed with CHD and were treated at a university hospital. The study's methodology included scale development, specialist opinions, and a pilot test. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and reliability assessments. Results The 11-item scale was created using component analysis, expert comments, and pilot testing. It was divided into two categories: Information Needs Regarding Disease and Treatment and Needs Regarding Care. The Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a 2-factor structure, explaining 41.5% of the variance. Reliability analysis showed reliable dimensions, and Tukey's scalability test indicated the scale requires separate dimension evaluation. The model fit indices were obtained as CMIN/DF (72.751/41) = 1.774, GFI = 0.925, IFI = 0.923, TLI = 0.893, CFI = 0.920, RMSEA = 0.071, SRMR = 0.063. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for subdimension 1 was 0.758, and for subdimension 2 was 0.678, indicating reliable dimensions. Conclusion The developed scale provides a valuable tool for assessing the care needs of mothers of children with CHD, contributing to enhancing maternal support programs in pediatric cardiology clinics. Practice implications Assessment of the care needs of mothers who have children with CHD is promising for the development of educational programs on this subject and to ensure the competence of mothers for care.