Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the good death inventory (GDI-A) questionnaire tested on Palestinian family members of deceased adult cancer patients

Background

Despite the importance of understanding the concept of good death (GD) from different cultural perspectives, it has not been assessed in Arab communities because of the unavailability of validated instruments. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Good Death Inventory (GDI-A) questionnaire used among Palestinian bereaved family members of cancer patients.

Methods

A cross-sectional methodological study was applied. An online survey was adopted as a data collection method. The online survey was delivered through Qualtrics and posted in cancer and health-related social media groups on Facebook, the most commonly utilized social media platform in Palestine. A convenient and snowball sampling of 285 family members of deceased adult cancer patients was adopted. The participants were asked to complete GDI online survey. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), content validity, and internal consistency reliability were assessed.

Results

Participants showed a good perspective about death (M = 300.01, SD = 31.09). Significant differences in GDI-A total score were reported with the “patient’s relationship with family” (M = 303.02, SD = 31.42), F(2, 282) = 7.787, p = .001, “educational level” (M = 305.97, SD = 28.38), F(4, 280) = 3.685, p = .006, and “member’s relationship with the patient” (M = 311.74, SD = 16.57), F(5, 279) = 3.125, p = .009. The Arabic version scale-level content validity index and the scale-level content validity index-universal agreement were 0.96 and 0.85, respectively. Factor analysis with a varimax rotation matrix revealed that 16 factors explained 76.08% of the variance.

Conclusion

This study provides the literature with an Arabic questionnaire for understanding the concept of a GD from the perspective of bereaved families. The GDI Arabic translated version is a psychometrically robust instrument with satisfactory measurement, which can be used for evaluating a GD among bereaved families.