Turkish Version of the Cardiac Distress Inventory and Cardiac Distress Inventory Short Form: A Validity and Reliability Study

OBJECTIVE
Increased negative moods such as anxiety, depression and fear of recurrence of cardiac events after a cardiac event, make it difficult to comply with lifestyle recommendations and drug therapy. Conducting screenings for cardiac distress and ensuring appropriate referrals are made constitute a crucial aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle post-illness. The Cardiac Distress Inventory has made it possible to assess cardiac patients psychologically and emotionally. The objective of this study was to provide a validity and reliability assessment of the original form Cardiac Distress Inventory (CDI) and short form (CDI-SF), in Turkish.

METHODS
The inventory was administered face to face to a total of 417 participants (336 CDI/81 CDI-SF) who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome and volunteered to participate in the study. Validity data was assessed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Rasch, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), reliability by McDonald’s Omega (ω), Pearson correlation coefficient and discriminability by Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

RESULTS
The two CDI were a high level of reliability. The factor structure and factor loadings of the CDI were not compatible with the original. The goodness of fit estimated by validity (CFA-EFA) was also not confirmed. The values of RMSEA, χ2/df and CFI indices suggest that it is not suitable for Türkiye. However, in the cross-cultural adaptation, validity and reliability study of the CDI-SF, it was concluded that the construct validity and internal consistency were high and could be used as a unidimensional scale. The inventory will be made freely available to clinicians and researchers.

CONCLUSION
CDI-SF provides a specific, pragmatic and reliable measurement of cardiac distress, adapted to common heart diseases. It serves as an effective screening tool in cardiac clinical management by demonstrating strong psychometric properties.