Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the cardiac depression scale tested on Jordanian patients with cardiovascular diseases

BACKGROUND: The Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) is an instrument to screen for depression, specifically in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the CDS in the Jordanian population. METHOD: A cross-sectional design was used for 304 participants diagnosed with CVD. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to explore the underlying structure of the new Arabic version of the CDS tool. RESULTS: Cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was 0.87. An EFA suggested a two-factor solution. The first factor has 18 items, measuring “My tolerance” of CVD, and the second factor has seven items, measuring “My activities” in the context of CVD. Based on the EFA simple structure, one item was removed due to its low factor loading (< 0.3). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a two-factor model with the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA = 0.06), comparative fit index (CFI = 0.856), and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI = 0.83) indicating acceptable fit. The Cronbach’s alpha values for the first and second factors were 0.86 and 0.84, respectively. CONCLUSION: The Arabic version of the CDS is a reliable and valid instrument to screen for depression among Jordanian patients with CVD.