The shortened EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care 30 questionnaire adequately measured parent satisfaction in pediatric intensive care units

Objective: To shorten and validate the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care (EMPATHIC) questionnaire of optimal length to measure satisfaction of parents whose child has been admitted to pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Study Design and Setting: A total of 3,354 (55.4%) parents in eight PICUs completed the 65-item EMPATHIC questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was applied to evaluate the statistical performances. The reduced domains were intercorrelated by the Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. The robustness of the findings was evaluated by adjusted R2 for internal cross-validations. Reliability was assessed by internal consistency. Results: Multiple regression analysis based on statistical redundancy established the optimal length at 30 items over five different domains: information (5 items), care and cure (8 items), organization (5 items), parental participation (6 items), and professional attitude (6 items). The explained variances of the domains ranged from 85% to 93%. The domains of the full and optimal version showed strong correlations (r = 0.92–0.97). Cross-validation among eight centers and across time provided adjusted R2 values on domain level between 85% and 95%. The reliability estimates of the domains, assessed by Cronbach's α, varied between 0.73 and 0.93. Conclusion: By statistically eliminating the redundant items, the EMPATHIC questionnaire could be reduced from 65 to 30 items