Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of psychosocial impact of assistive devices scale

Assistive tools are designed specifically to reduce activity limitations of individuals, to increase their participation in daily life, and to improve their existing skills. The aim of this study is to adapt the PIADS, which assess impact of assistive devices on users, into Turkish and to determine its validity and reliability. A four-person translation team translated the scale from English to Turkish (translation) and from Turkish to English (back translation). Three hundred and thirty-six participants, [153 (45.5%) female and 183 (54.5%) males], were included in this study. The mean age of the participants was 44.48±12.99 years. All items in the scale were related to each other and the total variance of the scale was 64.36%, and it has four dimensions. Self-confidence (12th) and embarrassment (21st) items were removed from the scale. When the test-retest results of the total score of the scale were examined [ICC= 0.70, 95% Confidence Interval (IC): 0,50 – 0,78], the scale shows a statistically significant agreement. There were no differences between test and retest results (p>0.05). The general Cronbach Alpha (α) coefficient was calculated as 0.934, 0.935 for the first sub-dimension, 0.903 for the second sub-dimension, 0.734 for the third sub-dimension, and 0.732 for the fourth sub-dimension. Considering the device usage period of the participants, 300 (89.2%) participants reported that they use the device for three or more years, 18 (5.4%) participants use the device for two years and 18 (5.4%) participants for one year. There was a statistically significant, negative, and weak correlation between the Nottingham Health Profile scores and the total score of PIADS (r: -0,176; p≤0.05). The results of this study showed that the Turkish version of the PIADS, which is consisted of 24 items, is valid and reliable.