No abstract

Introduction Hwa-Byung is a cultural-related mental syndrome that reflects the cultural characteristics of Korean in DSM-IV. This syndrome is caused by anger or resentment towards unreasonable social violence and trauma. Objectives The purpose of this study is to revise and validate the ’Hwa-Byung scale’, which can be used to diagnose Hwa-Byung and evaluate the severity of its symptoms. Methods To begin with, the factors of the Hwa-Byung scale were set based on the previous studies. Additionally, the respective subfactors were generated by the semi-structured interviews with these patients. Based on these factors and previous studies, a 142-item pool was developed and verified by six Oriental Neuropsychiatrists. A pilot study was conducted on 50 patients with Hwa-Byung and the main study for the validation was conducted on 200 Hwa-Byung patients. Item analysis, internal consistency, and exploratory/confirmatory factor analysis were performed. Lastly, this study analyzed the ROC curve to present the diagnostic cut-off score of the scale. Results As a result of analyzing the content validity of the item pool, we constructed a preliminary scale. We excluded the inadequate questions from the pilot study results. In the main study, The Hwa-Byung scale showed high internal consistency and its items were suitable for the factor structure. Finally, we suggest an optimal cut-off score of the symptoms sub-scale for screening Hwa-Byung. Conclusions Overall, the results of this study indicated the reliability and validity of the Hwa-Byung Scale. Based on these results, we discussed several values and limitations of this study and provided suggestions for further research. Disclosure No significant relationships.

This study was conducted to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Scale (K-SCCCS) in recent hospitalizations. Participants were 306 adults (15 ? 64 years old), who had been hospitalized for more than 24 hours at general or tertiary hospital within the last 3 months. Internal consistency, stability, reliability, construct validity (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis), and criterion validity were evaluated. Using the Rasch model, the persons and items fit, distribution of item difficulty, and appropriateness of the rating scale were also investigated. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a reasonable fit (RMSEA=0.08, CFI=97, TLI=0.96). There were significant correlations between K-SCCCS and individualized care (0.70, p <.001), clinical compassion (0.67, p <.001) and subjective satisfaction with compassionate care (0.66, p <.001). Overall internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha=0.97) and test-retest reliability (0.66) were good. All items and scales adjusted well to the model (fit indices range: 0.66~1.22) except for item 12. The K-SCCCS had satisfactory person separation reliability (0.97) and item separation reliability (0.93). There were no disordered thresholds in the 10-point rating scale. The K-SCCCS is a useful and reliable scale to assess compassionate care in Korean inpatient populations.