Validation and the Reliability of the ACIC Questionnaire in the Primary Health Care Setting: a Study from Bosnia and Herzegovina

OBJECTIVE. The aim of this study was to carry out the cultural adaptation and validation of the Assessment of Chronic Illness Care questionnaire (ACIC) in the Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. METHODS. A validation study was conducted in two randomly selected primary health care centers in the Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during March and April 2016. The study participants were all physicians working in family medicine departments during the study. Translation of the ACIC questionnaire version 3.5 was performed following the guidelines of the World Health Organization. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were tested with face validity, construct validity, and internal consistency. RESULTS. The questionnaire was distributed to 66 family physicians. Missing values were negligible, therefore the criteria for factor analysis were met. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the questionnaire measured one factor. The Cronbach alpha coefficient (0.970) showed the excellent level of internal consistency of the questionnaire. The intraclass correlation coefficient (0.802) confirmed the good reliability of the questionnaire. CONCLUSION. The ACIC questionnaire can be used to assess the quality of chronic care in family medicine practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Further research is needed to explore how changes in healthcare care delivery impact changes in the Chronic Care Model domain.