Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Cardiac Health Behavior Scale

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a common chronic disease with a high mortality rate. Patients with CVD need to engage in cardiovascular health behaviors to prevent the complications of the disease.

The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Cardiac Health Behavior (CHB) scale among patients with CVD.

In this methodological study, a total of 325 patients with CVD were selected from public places in Tehran using convenience sampling. The instrument was translated based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines. The face, content, and construct validities were examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The reliability of the scale was also assessed using McDonald’s omega and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Data analyses were performed using Lisrel 8.8 and SPSS 20 software.

Using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the five following factors were extracted: health responsibility, dietary habits, physical activities, smoking cessation, and stress management. These factors explained 64.96% of the total variance of cardiac health behavior. In Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), the goodness of fit of the five-factor model for cardiac health behavior was confirmed based on standard indices (CFI = 0.92, IFI = 0.92, PNFI = 0.75, and RMSEA = 0.089). Using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, the internal consistency of the total scale was found to be 0.887.

The five-factor model of cardiac health behavior showed good validity and reliability in patients with CVD. According to its good psychometric properties, the Persian version of the CHB scale reflected the importance of health behaviors in the daily activities of the patients with CVD.