Validation of the German version of two scales (RIS, RCS-HCP) for measuring regret associated with providing healthcare.
BACKGROUND
The regret intensity scale (RIS) and the regret coping scale for healthcare professionals (RCS-HCP) working in hospitals assess the experience of care-related regrets and how healthcare professional deal with these negative events. The aim of this study was to validate a German version of the RIS and the RCS-HCP.


METHODS
The RIS and RCS-HCP in German were first translated into German (forward- and backward translations) and then pretested with 16 German-speaking healthcare professionals. Finally, two surveys (test and 1-month retest) administered the scales to a large sample of healthcare professionals from two different hospitals.


RESULTS
Of the 2142 eligible healthcare professionals, 494 (23.1%) individuals (108 physicians) completed the cross-sectional web based survey and 244 completed the retest questionnaire. Participants (n = 165, 33.4% of the total sample) who reported not having experienced a regret in the last 5 years, had significantly more days of sick leave during the last 6 months. These participants were excluded from the subsequent analyses. The structure of the scales was similar to the French version with a single dimension for the regret intensity scale (Cronbach's alpha: 0.88) and three types of coping strategies for the regret coping scale (alphas: 0.69 for problem-focused strategies, 0.67 for adaptive strategies and 0.86 for the maladaptive strategies). Construct validity was good and reproduced the findings of the French study, namely that higher regret intensity was associated with situations that entailed more consequences for the patients. Furthermore, higher regret intensity and more frequent use of maladaptive strategies were associated with more sleep difficulties and less work satisfaction.


CONCLUSIONS
The German RIS and RCS-HCP scales were found valid for measuring regret intensity and regret coping in a population of healthcare professionals working in a hospital. Reporting no regret, which corresponds to the coping strategy of suppression, seems to be a maladaptive strategy because it was associated with more frequent sick day leaves.
Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Stadtspital Triemli, Zurich, Switzerland.
Silvia C
SC
Richner
Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Stéphane
S
Cullati
Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. boris.cheval@unige.ch.
Boris
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6236-4673
B
Cheval
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Ralph E
RE
Schmidt
Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Pierre
P
Chopard
Office of the Chief Medical Officer, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Christoph A
CA
Meier
Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Delphine S
DS
Courvoisier
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating
Days of work absence; Healthcare professionals; Psychometrics; Regret; Switzerland; Translation; Validation