Psychometric Properties of the Korean Dispositional Hope Scale Using the Rasch Analysis in Stroke Patients

BACKGROUND: It is reported that hopeful thinking plays a positive role in encouraging patients to achieve functional goals during the rehabilitation process. Hope is a key concept in evaluating stroke outcomes in research and rehabilitation practice. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Korean Dispositional Hope Scale (K-DHS) using the Rasch analysis in patients with hemiplegic stroke. METHODS: The K-DHS was completed by 166 community-dwelling hemiplegic stroke patients in Korea. Data were analyzed according to item fit, item difficulty, and the appropriateness of the rating scale using the Rasch analysis. RESULTS: Item fit analysis showed that 8 items of the K-DHS are appropriate because the infit MSNQ was between 0.7 and 1.3. Item difficulty results revealed that there is a difference in distribution between personal attributes and item difficulty. It shows that the item fit statistics of the 4-point Likert scale of K-DHS are all good. The person separation index demonstrated that the K-DHS could differentiate two or three hope status strata in stroke patients. The item separation index indicated that the items were useful with high reliability. CONCLUSION: The K-DHS comprises appropriate items for measuring the hope of stroke patients living in the community, and the rating scale of the K-DHS is also appropriate. This study is the first to conduct an analysis of the rating scale and its appropriateness, as well as the difficulty of items based on item response theory, and offers new insights for enhancing hope and improving well-being following stroke.