Validation of the regret coping scale for healthcare professionals (RCS-HCP) in portuguese for Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: the assessment of the ability to cope with regret can contribute to support strategies for health professionals. However, in Brazil there are few instruments that evaluate this ability in the general context. Objective: the aim of the study was to adapt and validate the Regret Coping Scale for Healthcare Professionals (RCS-HCP) for Brazilian health professionals. Methods: in the validation, the instruments were translated, and the psychometric properties evaluated for validity and reliability. Three hundred and forty-one professionals participated, with an average age of 38.6 ± 9.2, and 87 participated in a retest survey 30 days later. Results: exploratory factor analysis showed adequacy of the structure (KMO = 0.786) composed of three factors. In the confirmation, the performance was close to acceptable. Reliability was good for the maladaptive strategies (α = 0.834) and adequate for the problem-focused strategies (α = 0.717), but slightly too low for adaptive strategies (α = 0.595). Test-retest showed lower than expected values, with a Spearman-Brown coefficient of 0.703. Conclusion: the RCS-HCP scale showed satisfactory performance in relation to the properties evaluated.