Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Copenhagen Multi-Centre Psychosocial Infertility-Fertility Problem Stress Scales.

AIMS: The aim of this study is to introduce the Copenhagen Multi-Centre Psychosocial Infertility (COMPI)-Fertility Problem Stress Scales (COMPI-FPSS) into China and test its applicability in Chinese infertile population.

BACKGROUND

Infertility-related stress not only influences patients' psychological well-being but is also strongly associated with reduced pregnancy rates and poorer assisted conception outcomes, thus warranting focussed attention.

DESIGN

The design used in this study is a cross-sectional survey.

METHODS

A total of 418 participants were recruited by convenience sampling from March to July 2022. The data were randomly divided into two parts: one for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis and the other for confirmatory factor analysis and reliability test. The critical ratio and homogeneity test were used to verify the differentiation and homogeneity of the COMPI-FPSS; the construct validity was determined by explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses; Cronbach's α coefficient and Spearman-Brown coefficient were used to assess the reliability; and criterion validity was expressed using correlation coefficients for the Perceived Stress Scale and the Negative Affect Scale as the validity criteria.

RESULTS

The revised Chinese version of COMPI-FPSS has 11 items and 2 dimensions (i.e., personal stress domain and social stress domain). Exploratory factor analysis showed that the cumulative variance contribution rate of the two factors was 68.6%, and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model fitted well. The score of the COMPI-FPSS was significantly and positively associated with perceived stress and negative affect. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the total scale was 0.905, and the Spearman-Brown coefficient was 0.836, explaining excellent reliability.

CONCLUSION

The revised Chinese version of COMPI-FPSS shows good reliability and validity, and it can be used to evaluate the infertility-related stress of infertile patients in China.