Information before discharge in geriatric patients in Italy: cultural adaptation and validation of the Patient Continuity of Care Questionnaire

Our aim is to culturally adapt the first section of the Patient Continuity of Care Questionnaire (PCCQ) for use among older Italian patients with chronic diseases and to test its psychometric properties. The PCCQ was translated, adapted to the Italian context, and completed by 236 older inpatients with chronic diseases at the point of discharge through a cross-sectional multi-centre validation study. Face and content validity were assessed. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with Mplus MLr estimator was conducted. Internal consistency was analysed through Cronbach’s alpha and factor score determinacy coefficients. The overall content validity index of the 15-item Italian version of the questionnaire was 0.9. The EFA revealed a four-factor model yielding adequate fit indices. The factor score determinacy coefficients ranged from 0.87 to 0.94. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.71 to 0.86 showing good reliability. The study provides health professionals with an instrument with adequate psychometric properties to assess patients’ perception of the information received before hospital discharge.