Validation of the Farsi version of the Death Obsession Scale among nurses

OBJECTIVES: Obsession is one of the important aspects in death distress. The objective of this study was to estimate the reliability, validity, and factorial structure of the Farsi version of the Death Obsession Scale (DOS). METHODS: A convenience sample of 106 Iranian nurses from two hospitals at Tehran city, Iran was recruited. They completed the DOS, Death Concern Scale, Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale, Death Anxiety Scale, Reasons for Death Fear Scale, and Death Depression Scale. RESULTS: Cronbach's α for the DOS was 0.95, and 2-week test-retest reliability was 0.74. The DOS correlated 0.48, 0.46, 0.47, 0.39 and 0.44 with the last mentioned scales, respectively (P < 0.01), indicating good construct and criterion-related validity. Principle components analysis of the DOS identified three factors accounted for 74.82% of the variance. Factor 1 labeled “Death rumination” (34.78% of the variance), Factor 2 labeled “Death dominance” (29.65% of the variance), and Factor 3 labeled “Death idea repetition” (10.38% of the variance). CONCLUSIONS: The DOS has good validity and reliability, and it could be recommended for use in clinical and research settings to assess the death obsession in Iranian nurses.