TÍNH GIÁ TRỊ VÀ ĐỘ TIN CẬY CỦA PHIÊN BẢN TIẾNG VIỆT BỘ CÂU HỎI ĐÁNH GIÁ NỖI SỢ CÁI CHẾT – THANATOPHOBIA SCALE

Abstract

Introduction: In the context of Vietnam’s aging population, the future demand for palliative and end-of-life care is expected to be substantial. Although palliative care has developed in Vietnam, it remains limited in availability. One of the barriers to palliative care is the fear of death among patients, families, and healthcare professionals. Therefore, research is needed to assess the extent of death anxiety / thanatophobia and to apply tools for evaluating the effectiveness of palliative care education programs. Currently, there are no validated questionnaire tools available in Vietnam to support this need. Objective: To assess the validity and reliability of the Vietnamese version of the Thanatophobia Scale (VTS). Methods: The questionnaire was translated using a forward- and back-translation process and synthesized into a final version. This synthesized version was sent to three experts for content validity assessment, using the Content Validity Index (CVI). The VTS was then tested on 110 nursing staff at the University Medical Center of Ho Chi Minh City to evaluate its reliability using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results: The study found that the content validity assessment yielded an Item-Level CVI (I-CVI) of 1, a Scale-Level CVI based on the average method (S-CVI/Avg) of 1, and a Scale-Level CVI using the universal agreement method (S-CVI/UA) of 1. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.863. Conclusion: The study provides evidence supporting the validity and reliability of a practical, easy-to-use scale for assessing death anxiety. This tool can guide education and interventions to better support healthcare providers caring for terminally ill and dying patients, ultimately contributing to the development and improvement of palliative care quality.