Abstract
Background: Adopting a person-centered care approach has transformed different healthcare settings worldwide. However, this concept has gained little attention in many Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Arabic person-centered climate questionnaire-patient version, measuring to what extent the climate of health care settings is perceived as being person-centered. Method: This is a psychometric analysis study. The original validated version of the English Person-Centered Climate Questionnaire-Patient version (PCQ-P) was translated into Arabic and tested among a sample of hospital patients (n = 300) in Saudi Arabia using translation and back translation procedures. For psychometric evaluation, statistical analyses of validity and reliability were used, including exploratory factor analysis as well as conformity analysis. Results: The Arabic version of the person-centered climate questionnaire-patient version-showed good reliability as the Cronbach's alpha value of the total of 17 items was 0.84, and the Cronbach's alpha values of the three sub-scales (safety, everydayness, and hospitality) were 0.83, 0.56, and 0.68, respectively. Internal consistency results were high in terms cof orrelation coefficient for all 17 items. The exploratory factor analysis identified the three factors (safety, everydayness, and hospitality) responsible for 47.174% of the total variance. Conclusion: The Arabic version of the PCQ-P showed satisfactory reliability and validity for measuring patients' perceptions of person-centeredness in Arab healthcare settings. This Arabic version will be accessible to those interested in generating and using empirical evidence to promote a patient-centered care approach in Arab healthcare settings. The results of this study can be used as a starting point for assessing and developing a person-centered care culture in Saudi hospitals and other Arab countries in the Middle East.