Abstract
The present study investigated the internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and item response characteristics of a newly developed Vietnamese version of the Kessler 6 (K6) scale among hospital nurses in Hanoi, Vietnam. The K6 was translated into the Vietnamese language following a standard procedure. A survey was conducted of nurses in a large general hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, using a questionnaire including the Vietnamese K6, other scales (DASS21, health-related QOL, self-rated health, and psychosocial work environment), and questions about demographic variables. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) was calculated. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. Eleven hypotheses were tested (as Pearson's correlations with the K6) to assess the scale's construct validity. Item response theory (IRT) analysis was conducted to identify the item response characteristics. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.864. The explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a one-factor structure. Most hypotheses tested for construct validity were supported. IRT analysis indicated that response categories were located in order according to severity. K6 provided reliable information regarding higher levels of psychological distress. The findings suggest that the Vietnamese version of the K6 is a reliable and valid instrument to measure psychological distress among hospital nurses in Vietnam.
Highlights
The Kessler 6 (K6) scale is a six-item short measure of psychological distress and is used as a screening instrument for common mental disorders in the community [1, 2]
The present study investigated psychometric properties, i.e., internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and item response characteristics of the K6 scale translated in Vietnamese in a sample of nurses working in a large general hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam
After obtaining permission to translate it into Vietnamese from the lead author of the research team that developed the K6 (Prof Ronald C Kessler, Harvard Medical School, United States of America), the original English version was translated into Vietnamese independently by two translators who were fluent in English and were knowledgeable about mental health symptomatology
Summary
The Kessler 6 (K6) scale is a six-item short measure of psychological distress and is used as a screening instrument for common mental disorders in the community [1, 2]. Country-specific validation studies have been published for the Arabic [5], English [6,7,8], Chinese [9], French [10], Japanese [11, 12], Korean [13], and Farsi (Persian) languages [14] These studies in general reported good internal consistency reliability (0.69–0.92 in Cronbach’s alpha) [5, 7, 9, 10, 12,13,14,15] and factor-based [9, 10] and other construct validity (correlations with other mental health measures) [5, 7, 8, 10, 13] across various populations (university students, community residents, employees, people living with HIV, and psychiatric patients), for both self-report and interviewer-administered versions. Psychometric properties of the K6 should be systematically investigated including confirmatory factor analysis and IRT analysis for specific country and ethnic populations [17]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
