Relocation stress syndrome is emotional response such as anxiety, confusion, hopelessness, and loneliness. It usually occurs in persons shortly after moving from one place to another place whica are unfamiliar environments. The shock of the transition causes medical conditions to worsen, which can result in serious illness, possibly death. Particularly, relocation stress is a core concept in intensive care units or critical care nursing. The aim of this study was to development and psychometric validation of the short version of relocation stress syndrome scale for patients transferred from intensive care units to general wards in Korea.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was adopted after approval of IRB. A convenience sample of 535 patients following gransfer from intensive care units. Data were analyzed with SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 8.0 Reliability was assessed via an internal consistency analysis. Construct validity was tested with exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analyses. Criterion validity was assessed by measuring participants' original version of relocation stress syndrome scale, transfer proces satisfaction and general health status.
Results:
Internaal consistency was supported based on Cronbach's alpha of 0.87. We identified that exploratory factor analysis revealed three well-fitting factors (physical factors, patient's recognition to healthcare providers, and emotional factorsP, which explained 76.98% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analsysis revealed that the short version of the relocation stress syndrome was acceptable. Low relocation stress syndrome were associated with more transfer process satisfaction and good general health status.
Conclusion:
The short form of relocation stress syndrome scale for ICU patients demonstrates good reliability and validity, and therefore, it is an appropriate measurement of assessing relocation stress syndrome in ICU to ward transition period. Future studies are required more rigorous validation based on diverse cultural background and more larger samples. Moreover, further studies are needed to explore the physical, psychological and environmental factors using this relocation stress syndrome-short form.