Cross-cultural adaptation of the spinal cord lesion-related coping strategies questionnaire for use in Iran.

INTRODUCTION This study examined the validity and reliability of the Iranian version of the spinal cord lesion-related coping strategies questionnaire (SCL CSQ-I) in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS Consecutive patients with SCI (n=220) were recruited into the study. A standard forward-backward translation procedure was used to translate the SCL CSQ from English into Persian. Participants also completed the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM III), Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ), and SCL CSQ-I. Psychometric properties examined were internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and construct validity. RESULTS Cronbach alphas for the SCL CSQ-I subscales ranged from 0.68 to 0.89, indicating acceptable internal reliability, and intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.74 to 0.89, indicating good test-retest reliability. The SCL CSQ-I subscales significantly correlated with scores on the SF-12, HADS, SCIM III and CIQ, indicating solid convergent validity. Each item of the SCL CSQ-I within a hypothesized dimension correlated strongly with the total score for that dimension. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified a three-factor model. The SCL CSQ-I subscales correlated significantly with clinical and socio-demographic characteristics. CONCLUSION The Iranian version of the SCL CSQ is a reliable and valid tool for measuring coping strategies in persons with SCI.