The needs of children questionnaire – Turkish cross-cultural adaptation

Abstract

Introduction and aim. Determining the needs of children hospitalized for treatment is important in terms of identifying children who are more at risk and developing support systems for the child and the family. We aimed to test the validity and reliability of the Turkish needs of children questionnaire (NCQ) and cross-culturally adapt it to the Turkish language. Material and methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted using a total of 160 children aged 5-16 years who were hospitalized between May 2021 and May 2022. The linguistic, content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency of NCQ were assessed. Results. NCQ had a four-factor structure consisting of two categories and explained 76% of the total variance. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.748, 0.799, 0.821, and 0.802 for the subscales of Caring, Information, Activities, and Relationships, respectively; and 0.893 for the total score. Inter-item correlations ranged from 0.149 to 0.702 (p<0.05). Conclusion. NCQ has a high level of validity and reliability for Turkish society. Turkish children aged 5 to 16 years were able to comprehend this instrument and express their needs and feelings about their hospitalization period.