The Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale: translation and cross-cultural validation into Greek

Abstract

Aim Cross-cultural adaptation of the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDPS) into Greek. Methods The IDPS was forward and back-translated by two bilingual physiotherapists and a Greek-English translator, respectively. Greek-speaking health professionals provided modifications in order to develop the final version of the Scale. Health professionals filled in the Greek version of the IDPS and the Caring Behaviors Inventory (for criterion validity). The factors of the Greek IDPS were extracted as well. After 8–10 days, the scale was re-distributed to the same health professionals (test–retest reliability) and to a general population sample (discriminant validity). Results Eighty-seven health professionals (36 ± 7.6 years) and 80 general population participants (44 ± 11.6 years) participated. There was a trend for the Greek IDPS variability to predict the variability of the Caring Behaviors Inventory (r 2 = 0.05; p = 0.054), but the coefficient of determination was low. An explanatory factor analysis extracted four factors explaining 66.66% of the total variance, confirmed by reliability analysis. The health care professionals had a significantly lower score than the general population in the Greek IDPS (mean difference: −11.0; confidence interval: −7.3 to −14.7), indicating familiarisation with the management of people with disability. The scale reliability and internal consistency were excellent; ICC(2,1) = 0.92 (confidence interval: 0.87–0.95) and Cronbach’s α = 0.96 respectively. No ceiling or floor effects were observed. Conclusions Substantial validity and reliability were observed for the Greek IDPS to assess Greek health professionals’ attitudes towards people with disabilities. Implications for rehabilitation The Greek IDPS version was shown to be comprehensible, and has demonstrated a sufficient amount of validity and reliability for assessing the perceptions and attitudes of Greek health professionals towards people with disabilities. Exploring attitudes towards people with disabilities in Greek-speaking populations, especially health professionals, with a scale such as the Greek IDPS is very important as it can help promote positive changes in approaches towards disability.