Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Challenges to Stopping Smoking Scale (CSS) in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

Smoking is one of the modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) that is related to different types of chronic disorders. Many patients with CVD consider smoking cessation a difficult task due to various reasons. The goal of the present study was to translate the Challenges to Stopping Smoking Scale (CSS) into Persian and examine its psychometric properties.
In this cross-sectional methodological study, a total of 341 patients with CVD [141 for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and 200 for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)] participated, and were selected using a convenience sampling method. Participants completed the Persian version of the CSS. Face, content, and construct validities were examined. Internal consistency was assessed using the McDonald’s Omega and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, and stability was examined using the test-retest method.
In the EFA, two factors of Internal Challenges and External Challenges were extracted that together explained 42.619% of the total variance. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.740 and 0.799 and Intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.862 and 0.869 were found for Internal and External Challenges, respectively. According to the results of CFA, the three-factor model had a good fit to the data. (RMSEA: 0.059; CFI: 0.94; GFI: 0.97; NFI: 0.90; PNFI: 0.77).
The Persian version of the CSS has good validity and reliability, and can be used as a valid and reliable instrument in future studies.