Validation of an Arabic Instrument for the Assessment of Patient-Centered Care Among Patients with Diabetes in the Primary Healthcare Setting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Background: Patient-centered care is a fundamental element of effective diabetes management; however, validated Arabic instruments assessing this concept are currently lacking in Arab countries. This study examined the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the patient-centered care instrument among patients with diabetes. Methods: A face-to-face administered questionnaire among 594 patients with diabetes in Saudi Arabia between July and August 2023. The questionnaire consisted of 36 items that assessed patient-centered care (PCC-36). PCC-36 was translated into Arabic in accordance with the World Health Organization guidelines for the translation of instruments before psychometric evaluation. For each PCC-36 function, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were used to test the reliability and internal consistency of the measures. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 28 and AMOS version 28. Results: The Arabic translation of PCC-36 showed high interitem correlations, and confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable fit to the data (CFI = 0.936, GFI = 0.90, CMIN/DF = 2.42, RMSEA = 0.079). Cronbach’s alpha confirmed the internal consistency of the eight PCC-36 functions, with an alpha value of 0.96. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the Arabic version of PCC-36 is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring patient-centered care among patients with diabetes in Saudi Arabia. However, further validation in other Arab countries and healthcare settings is recommended.