The Swedish version of the Acceptance of Chronic Health Conditions Scale for people with multiple sclerosis : translation, cultural adaptation and psychometric properties

Abstract

Objectives: To translate and culturally adapt the Acceptance of Chronic Health Conditions (ACHC) Scale for people with multiple sclerosis into Swedish, and to analyse the psychometric properties of the Swedish version. Subjects: Ten people with multiple sclerosis participated in translation and cultural adaptation of the ACHC Scale; 148 people with multiple sclerosis were included in evaluation of the psychometric properties of the scale. Methods: Translation and cultural adaptation were carried out through translation and back-translation, by expert committee evaluation and pre-test with cognitive interviews in people with multiple sclerosis. The psychometric properties of the Swedish version were evaluated using Rasch analysis. Results: The Swedish version of the ACHC Scale was an acceptable equivalent to the original version. Seven of the original 10 items fitted the Rasch model and demonstrated ability to separate between groups. A 5-item version, including 2 items and 3 super-items, demonstrated better psychometric properties, but lower ability to separate between groups. Conclusion: The Swedish version of the ACHC Scale with the original 10 items did not fit the Rasch model. Two solutions, either with 7 items (ACHC-7) or with 2 items and 3 super-items (ACHC-5), demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. Use of the ACHC-5 Scale with super-items is recommended, since this solution adjusts for local dependency among items