Development and validation of new evaluation scale for measuring stroke patients’ motivation for rehabilitation in rehabilitation wards

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop the Motivation in stroke patients for rehabilitation scale (MORE scale), following the Consensus-based standards for the selection of health measurement instruments (COSMIN). METHOD: Study participants included rehabilitation professionals working at the convalescent rehabilitation hospital and stroke patients admitted to the hospital. The original MORE scale was developed from an item pool, which was created through discussions of nine rehabilitation professionals. After the content validity of the scale was verified using the Delphi method with 61 rehabilitation professionals and 22 stroke patients, the scale’s validity and reliability were examined for 201 stroke patients. The construct validity of the scale was investigated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and item response theory analysis. Cronbach’s alpha confirmed its internal consistency. Regarding convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity, Spearman’s rho was calculated between the MORE scale and the Apathy Scale (AS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), which rates the subjective feelings of motivation. RESULTS: Using the Delphi method, 17 items were incorporated into the MORE scale. According to EFA and CFA, a one-factor model was suggested. All MORE scale items demonstrated satisfactory item response, with item slopes ranging from 0.811 to 2.142, and item difficulty parameters ranging from -3.203 to 0.522. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.948. Regarding test-retest reliability, a moderate correlation was found between scores at the beginning and one month after hospitalization (rho = 0.612. p < 0.001). The MORE scale showed significant correlation with AS (rho = -0.536, p < 0.001), SDS (rho = -0.347, p < 0.001), and VAS (rho = 0.536, p < 0.001), confirming the convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The MORE scale was verified as a valid and reliable scale for evaluating stroke patients’ motivation for rehabilitation.