Turkish Adaptation of the Supportive Care Needs Scale (SCNS – SF34): Reliability and Validity Study

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Supportive Care Needs Scale (SCNS – SF34) in Identification of nursing care needs for cancer patients and examine the psychometric properties. Methods: Approval of the ethics committee and the institution was taken from the hospital where the data were collected. The sample comprised 450 patients with cancer. Pre-implementation approval was obtained from the patients. Forward-backward translation of the SCNS-SF34 from English into Turkish was conducted. Original English and translated forms were examined by a panel group. After the scope of validity for the final version of the scale, pre-treatment was performed in a group of 50 people with similar characteristics with patients to be included in the study. Validity was investigated using content, confirmatory factor analysis, and divergent validity. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach α values, item-total correlations, and intraclass correlations. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: The Cronbach alpha was found.73, which indicated perfect content validity; items in SCNS-SF34 were clear, concise, readable, and distinct. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original construct of the SCNS-SF34.All items had factor loadings higher than the recommended level of .40. Reliability results were also satisfactory. Cronbach α values were within ideal limits. Item-total correlation coefficient ranged from .7 to .8. Test-retests results were found fairly reliable (p<.001). Conclusions: SCNS-SF34 showed acceptable reliability and validity. We recommend performing the Turkish SCNS-SF34 in determine the need of the cancer patients.