Transcultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of Portuguese Version of the Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ) Among HIV Positive Patients in Brazil

Abstract

The Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ), originally written in the German language, was translated and validated into 11 languages, but not Latin languages, such as Brazilian Portuguese. This study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of the SpNQ after translation and transcultural adaptation to the Portuguese language, identifying unmet spiritual needs in a sample of patients living with HIV in Brazil. This pioneering study conformed a four-factor structure of 20 items, differentiating Religious Needs (α = 0.887), Giving/Generativity Needs (α = 0.848), Inner Peace (α = 0.813) and a new item: Family Support Needs (α = 0.778). The Brazilian version of the SpNQ (SpNQ-BR) had good internal validity criteria and can be used for research of the spiritual needs for Brazilian patients. The cross-cultural adaptation and comparison with previous studies showed that the SpNQ is sensitive to the cultural characteristics of different countries.

Factor Structure of the Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ) in Persons with Chronic Diseases, Elderly and Healthy Individuals

“…The Portuguese version of the SpNQ differentiates Religious Needs, Existentialistic Needs, Inner Peace, Actively Giving and Family Support Needs (Valente et al 2018). The items of the Family Support Needs scale are optional items which can be found in the SpNQ, but may not represent a specific 'spiritual' topic.…”

Item Response Theory Applied to the Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ) in Portuguese

“…The SpNQ validation study in Portuguese (Valente et al 2018) was performed among 200 HIV+ patients treated in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The present psychometric study applying IRT relied on the replication study in a new sample of 157 HIV+ patients treated in outpatients at a public hospital in João Pessoa, Paraíba (Brazil) (Silva et al).…”

“…The SpNQ validated for Brazilian Portuguese (Valente et al 2018) used in a similar sampling (Silva et al).…”

“…It differentiates four main dimensions, i.e., religious needs, existential needs, inner peace needs, and giving/generativity needs (Büssing et al 2010. The SpNQ was validated into Portuguese (Valente et al 2018) in a sample of HIV+ patients, presenting internal consistency ranging from 0.51 to 0.83.SpNQ has already been translated and validated in 12 studies. However, the psychometric analyses performed so far were based only on the classical theory of tests (CTT), based on exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency analysis, all conventional quantitative approaches to test the reliability and validity of a scale based on its items (Cappelleri et al 2014;Sartes and de Souza-Formigoni 2013).…”

“…It differentiates four main dimensions, i.e., religious needs, existential needs, inner peace needs, and giving/generativity needs (Büssing et al 2010. The SpNQ was validated into Portuguese (Valente et al 2018) in a sample of HIV+ patients, presenting internal consistency ranging from 0.51 to 0.83.…”