CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND VALIDATION OF THE PERSIAN VERSION OF THE FAMILY FUNCTIONING, HEALTH, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT QUESTIONNAIRE IN A SAMPLE OF HEART FAILURE PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS

Background and Purpose: Family functioning, family health, and social support have significant roles in the management of heart failure (HF). This study aimed to translate, adapt, and assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Family Functioning, Family Health, and Social Support (FAFHES) questionnaire. Methods: FAFHES questionnaire was translated into Persian, and an expert panel assessed the cross-cultural adap-tation. We examined the construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients among 576 participants. Results: The Persian FAFHES confirmed the three-factor structure in the social support and the five-factor structure in the family health scales. However, the family functioning scale yielded the three-factor structure versus the four-factor structure in the original scales. The Cronbach’s alpha for the three scales varied from 0.85 to 0.94. Conclusions: The adapted FAFHES seems to be valid and reliable to measure family functioning, family health, and social support in families with HF.