Validation of the Persian Version of the Self-care in COVID-19 Scale (SCOVID Scale) in the Iranian Population

Background: Self-care during Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) helps people follow self-care strategies to reduce the spread of the virus. To control the disease, people need to engage in self-care behaviors, which should be investigated by a valid and reliable instrument to yield valid and credible results. Objectives: This study aimed to validate the Persian version of the Self-Care in COVID-19 Scale (SCOVID Scale). Methods: The sample included 582 participants from Tehran’s general population, selected through convenience sampling in 2021. They were divided into two groups, one for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the other for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and McDonald’s omega were used to assess the internal consistency. Standard error of measurement and the interclass correlation coefficient were also employed to examine absolute and relative stability, respectively. Results: In the EFA, three factors, including Precaution, Routine Activities, and Lifestyle, were extracted, explaining 32.31% of the total variance in COVID-19 self-care. Internal consistency of the whole scale using both Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and McDonald’s omega was above 0.7. The goodness of fit indices of the second-order CFA were in the acceptable range (x2=262.365, df=82, P<0.001, RMSEA=0.062, PCFI=0.725, PNFI=0.703, IFI=0.930, and the CFI=0.929). Conclusion: The Persian version of the SCOVID Scale is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in studies on COVID-19.