Psychometric properties and cross-cultural adaptation of the Chinese version of the family caregiver communication tool-chronic illness.

BACKGROUND: With the rapid aging of the Chinese population, family caregivers play a pivotal role in the management of chronic diseases. Effective family communication is crucial for reducing caregiver burden and improving care quality. However, China lacks a generic, culturally adapted instrument to assess communication patterns in these specific settings. This study aimed to translate the Family Caregiver Communication Tool-Chronic Illness (FCCT-CI) into Chinese and evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS: Following Brislin's translation model, the FCCT-CI was translated, back-translated, and cross-culturally adapted through expert consultation and pilot testing. From March to July 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted with 319 family caregivers recruited via convenience sampling from a tertiary hospital in Henan Province. To ensure rigorous validation, the total sample was randomly split into two independent subsamples: Sample A (n = 110) was used for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Sample B (n = 209) was used for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Psychometric properties were evaluated using item analysis, content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. RESULTS: The Chinese FCCT-CI comprises 10 items across two dimensions. Exploratory Factor Analysis (Sample A) extracted two factors explaining 71.46% of the total variance. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (Sample B) demonstrated excellent model fit (χ 2/df = 1.707, CFI = 0.988, TLI = 0.979, RMSEA = 0.058). Content validity was robust, with an S-CVI/Ave of 0.94 and I-CVI ranging from 0.80 to 1.00. The scale exhibited high reliability, with a Cronbach's α of 0.846, split-half reliability of 0.943, and a test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.920. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of the FCCT-CI demonstrates good reliability and validity. It provides a reliable tool for assessing family communication patterns among family caregivers of patients with chronic diseases in China.