Abstract
Background
There is a lack of validated tools to measure comfort in critically ill patients.
Objective
The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the General
Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ) in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs).
Methodology
A total of 580 patients were recruited, randomising the sample into two homogeneous
subgroups of 290 patients for exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor
analysis, respectively. The GCQ was used to assess patient comfort. Reliability, structural
validity, and criterion validity were analysed.
Results
The final version included 28 of the 48 items from the original version of the GCQ.
This tool was named the Comfort Questionnaire (CQ)-ICU, maintaining all types and
contexts of the Kolcaba theory. The resulting factorial structure included seven factors:
psychological context, need for information, physical context, sociocultural context,
emotional support, spirituality, and environmental context. A Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin value
of 0.785 was obtained, with Bartlett's sphericity test (0.000) being significant,
and the total variance explained was 49.750%. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.807, with
subscale values ranging from 0.788 to 0.418. Regarding convergent validity, high positive
correlations were obtained between the factors and the GCQ score, the CQ-ICU score,
and the criterion item GCQ31: “I am content”. In terms of divergent validity, correlations were low with the APACHE II scale
and with the NRS-O except for physical context (−0.267).
Conclusion
The Spanish version of the CQ-ICU is a valid and reliable tool to assess comfort in
an ICU population 24 h after admission. Although the resulting multidimensional structure
does not replicate the Kolcaba Comfort Model, all types and contexts of the Kolcaba
theory are included. Therefore, this tool enables an individualised and holistic evaluation
of comfort needs.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 09, 2023
Accepted:
December 23,
2022
Received in revised form:
December 14,
2022
Received:
September 24,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
