Psychometric properties of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy--Spiritual Well-being (FACIT-Sp) in an Arabic-speaking, predominantly Muslim population.

OBJECTIVE: This study determined the psychometric properties of the Arabic Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being (FACIT-Sp) Version 4 and explored associations between its three factors (Peace, Meaning, and Faith) and health-related quality of life (HrQoL) among Arab patients with cancer.

METHODS: A total of 205 Arabic-speaking, study-eligible cancer patients who were in treatment at the King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, Jordan, completed the FACIT-Sp scale.

RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients suggest that the Arabic FACIT-Sp is reliable and that moderate to strong correlations among subscales suggest validity. Correlation analyses showed that the 12-item Spiritual Well-being scale was associated with Social (r = 0.45, p = 0.01) and Functional Well-being (r = 0.48, p = 0.01). Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that the Peace factor added 7.5% and the Meaning factor 3.8% to the prediction of HrQoL (p < 0.001). Faith did not significantly contribute to the unique prediction of HrQoL. Correlation analyses revealed that Peace was most prominently associated with the HrQoL subscale of Functional Well-being (r = 0.53, p = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: This first study of Arabic-speaking, predominantly Muslim Jordanian cancer patients using the FACIT-Sp indicates that it is a psychometrically sound instrument for detailed assessment of the spiritual well-being of Arabic-speaking cancer patients. The three-factor model appears to allow for discrimination among factors that are most highly associated with different aspects of HrQoL.