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. Chisquare
(χ
2)/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: χ
2 (39) = 127.846, p<0.001, χ
2/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.