Evaluation of the Chinese Version of the Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB) Scale in Taiwanese Elders

Background:  Spiritual well-being has emerged as an important indicator of one’s health outcomes. Nursing as a profession is concerned with holistic interventions to improve health and overall well-being. To evaluate the outcomes of the holistic nursing interventions, using valid and reliable instruments to assess spiritual wellbeing becomes necessary. However, there is a short of instruments for measuring spiritual wellbeing in Chinese population. While the Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB, reviewed as a health-related quality of life measure, has been used in Western cultural population with good reported reliability and validity, little is known about the feasibility of using SIWB in Chinese population.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to translate the Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB) into a Chinese version and to validate it in Taiwanese elders living in communities.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 150 participants who were 65 year-old or older were recruited from a free-accessed, public seniors’ activity center located at a metropolitan in southern Taiwan. The Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB) ), a 12-items scale with possible total scores from 12 to 60, was translated into Chinese by using a forward- and back- translation method to ensure accuracy and semantic equivalence between the Chinese and the English versions. Procedures of forward translation and back translation followed the principles and considerations for translation and back-translations stated by Behling and Law (2000). Internal consistency, factor analysis, and correlation coefficient were conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of SIWB.

Results: The Chinese version of SIWB demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of .95 for the scale and .92 for both subscales). Construct validity was supported by exploratory factor analysis which showed that two factors with 12 of 12 items loading above .68, explaining 74.1% of the variances. Total scale and subscale scores were also significantly correlated with the Chinese version of SF-v12 scale measuring quality of life and the Chinese version of CES-D scale measuring depression, indicating satisfactory convergent validity. The mean scores of the SIWB in Taiwanese elders was 42.56 (SD=10.92).

Conclusion: The psychometric properties indicate that the Chinese version of the SIWB is a valid and reliable instrument for future research. This instrument provides a feasible approach for assessing spiritual wellbeing in Taiwanese elders.