Perceived Stress Scale Psychometric Validation for Malaysian Diabetic Patients

Aims: The purpose of this study was to provide factorial analytic findings, construct validation and normative data for the Malaysian diabetic patients. Gender difference was also examined with racial response to PSS-10.
Study design: Population base cross sectional survey.
Place and Duration of Study: Penang between Nov 2009 and March 2010.
Methodology: Cluster random sampling technique was employed for the selection participants in the community. A total of 1924 diabetic patients with age ≥ 18 (mean age = 39.51) were approached; 992 of them were female and 932 of them were male. People rated how often they had experienced these feelings in the last week on a five-point Likert scale from 0 = never to 4 = very often. The scale was translated into Malay language independently by two psychological counselors who had at least a master’s degree and bilingual efficiency. The LISREL 8.30 program was used to assenting factor analysis. Chi-square (χ2)/df (degree of freedom) ratio, GFI (goodness of fit index), AGFI (adjusted goodness of fit index) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were used to evaluate the fit of the model (two-factor).
Results: Barlett’s test of sphericity was 1603.417 (p<0.001) and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of the sampling adequacy was 0.83. Varimax rotation was conducted with these two identified factors. Factor A integrated items 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 10, labeled as ‘Perceived Avoidance’ while Factor B containing items 4, 5, 7, 8 and labeled as ‘Perceived Controllable’. Item variance showed 45.73 per cent of accountability with Factor A and 13.43 per cent with Factor B. Mandatory factor analysis for the two-factor of Malaysian version of PSS yielded: GFIs: χ2 (39) = 127.846, p<0.001, χ2/df= 4.1; GFI = 0.97; AGFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.06 and CFI = 0.99.
Conclusion: PSS-10 is a reliable tool for assessing the stress measures among diabetic living of the society. High stress level is identified among the females as compared to male diabetic patients. Overall the whole cohort has high perceived stress level.