Adaptation of the epilepsy-related apathy scale(E-RAS) in adult epilepsy patients into Turkish: validity and reliability study of the scale

This study was conducted to determine the Turkish validity and reliability of the Epilepsy-Related Apathy Scale in Adult Epilepsy Patients (E-RAS) developed by Shamsalina et al. The sample of the metadological study consisted of epilepsy patients (N=209) who met the inclusion criteria and were followed up in the Neurology Clinic of Amasya University Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin Training and Research Hospital between February 2023 and May 2023. The scale was sent to 8 experts to evaluate the content validity and finalized after the recommendations of the experts and pre-administered with 10 people. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed for construct validity. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, it was determined that there were 9 questions with factor loadings lower than 0.30. The original E-RAS consisting of 24 items and 4 sub-dimensions was reorganized as 15 items and 2 sub-dimensions after exploratory factor analysis. The scale content validity index score was found to be 0.732 for the "Self-Regulation and Cognitive" sub-dimension, 0.813 for the "Motivational Emotional" sub-dimension and 0.780 for the total content validity index of the E-RAS. Cashier Meyer Olkin value was 0,805, and Bartlett Sphericity test revealed that there were significantly high relationships between the variables (X2:1372,138, sd:105, p<0,001). ''Self-Organization and Cognitive'' sub-dimension explained 27.219% of the total variance, ''Motivational and Emotional'' sub-dimension explained 22.927% of the total variance and epilepsy-related apathy scale in adult epilepsy patients explained 50.146% of the total variance. In confirmatory factor analysis, the factor loadings of the items, x2 /sd 2,245, Tucker Lewis index 0,900, Comparative Fit Index 0,920, Incremental Fit Index 0,921, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation 0,077 and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual 0,070 fit values were determined to be at a good level. Scale item-total correlation coefficients ranged between 0.332-0.553. In the internal consistency analysis, Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was found to be 0.813 for the whole scale and between 0.802 and 0.864 for the sub-dimensions. Test-retest was performed to evaluate the invariance of the scale and its sub-dimensions over time, and it was determined that there was significant agreement between both applications (p<0.05). In conclusion, the Turkish version of the Epilepsy-Related Apathy Scale in Adult Epilepsy Patients (E-RAS) is a valid and reliable measurement tool and it is recommended to use the scale in clinical and scientific studies. Key words: Epilepsy, Validity, Reliability, Nursing, Neurological Disorder