Objectives: Dementia is a growing public health challenge, and the positive attitude of nurses and nursing students toward people with dementia plays an important role in care quality; however, no validated, culturally adapted instrument exists in Iran to measure this positive attitude (allophilia). This study aimed to validate the Persian version of the Allophilia Scale toward people with dementia among Iranian nurses and nursing students.
Methods & Materials: This methodological and validation study was conducted in Mashhad, Iran, in December 2023–January 2024. After obtaining permission from the original developer, translation and cultural adaptation were performed based on the IQOLA protocol in four stages. A total of 298 nurses working in medical centers of Mashhad and nursing students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences participated through convenience sampling. Face, content, and construct validity (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis) were assessed. Reliability was evaluated through internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and temporal stability (test-retest).
Results: The mean age of the total sample was 33.00 years (SD=9.913), and 72.5% were female. Exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors (KMO=0.921; Bartlett's test p<0.001) explaining 63.695% of total variance. The initial three-factor confirmatory model showed poor fit (GFI=0.828, CFI=0.866, RMSEA=0.105). Given the very high inter-factor correlations, a second-order one-factor model was tested and showed better fit indices (GFI=0.986, CFI=0.979, IFI=0.982). Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.927, and intraclass correlation coefficients for the student and employed groups were 0.947 and 0.965, respectively.
Conclusion: The Persian version of the Allophilia Scale showed acceptable psychometric properties, with a second-order one-factor structure rather than the original five-factor structure, among the Iranian nursing population. Given this structural change and the study's limitations, cautious use of the instrument alongside further confirmatory studies is recommended.