Psychometric characteristics of Persian version of Care Transition measure (CTM-15) in Iranian older adults

Introduction: Care Transition measure (CTM-15) is a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the quality of care transition from the patients' point of view. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the conceptual structure and psychometric properties of the Care Transition measure (CTM-15) in Iranian older adults. Materials and methods: The present research is a methodological. The translation process of Care Transition measure (CTM-15) carried out by standard method of translating and equivalent, the International Quality of Life Assessment model. This questionnaire was completed by 200 elderly people who met the study inclusion criteria using an available sampling method. Face validity, content validity, construct validity (confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis) and convergent validity were investigated. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by the method of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 24 software. Results: The content validity index for the entire questionnaire was obtained as S-CVI = 0.966. Following confirmatory factor analysis, the 4-factor care transition questionnaire was not confirmed and did not show a good fit (P < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.093, GFI = 0.851, NFI = 0.644, CFI = 0.731). After performing exploratory factor analysis, 3 factors "patient and caregiver priorities", "self-management and follow-ups" and "drug management" were introduced. Convergent validity of care transition measure with general self-efficacy scale (GSE-10) was shown using Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.468. The reliability of the measure was obtained using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.76) and Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC=0.85). Conclusion: The Persian version of Care Transition measure (CTM-15), the 4-factor function is not the original version of the care transition tool. The Persian version with 3 factors explained in the Iranian elderly community has the potential to be considered as an efficient tool for evaluating transition of care in clinical and research fields due to its validity and reliability. The benefits of measuring the transition of care and its impact on the promotion of discharge programs and continuity of care in various care structures justify the need to pay attention to this tool.