Abstract

Background: – Self-care is vital for recovery and long-term health in postcardiac surgery patients. The Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory Version 4.c (SC-CII-V4c) is widely used to assess self-care, but the psychometric properties in these patients remain underexplored. Objective: – The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric properties of the SC-CII-V4c in Thai post cardiac surgery. Methods: – A cross-sectional study was conducted with 200 patients who underwent cardiac surgery at a tertiary care hospital in Thailand. The Thai SC-CII-V4c, assessing self-care across 3 domains, was administered. Psychometric testing involved exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis for structural validity. Internal reliability was estimated with Cronbach α, McDonald’s ω, and composite reliability. Measurement error analysis was performed to evaluate scale precision. Results: – Exploratory factor analysis confirmed factor solutions with sufficient correlations for analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated structural validity with good model fit for unidimensional Self-Care Maintenance, unidimensional Self-Care Monitoring, and bidimensional Self-Care Management scales. The Self-Care Maintenance structure and items allocations in the Self-Care Management dimensions differed from the previous US and Thai models. A simultaneous model combining all items supported the first-order structure, whereas the second-order model had partial support. Internal reliability was adequate across all scales (α = .86–.90, ω = 0.86–0.90; composite reliability, 0.85–0.90). Measurement error analysis demonstrated thresholds for meaningful score change. Conclusions: – The SC-CII-V4c is valid, reliable, and suitable for clinical practice and research to address self-care maintenance, monitoring, and management in Thai postcardiac surgery.