Table of Contents
Abstract
The nursing care needs Assessment Scale for Women with infertility is a specialized psychometric instrument designed to quantify the specific clinical, informational, and emotional support requirements of women undergoing fertility treatments. While previous psychological tools have primarily focused on measuring the stress, depression, or general quality of life associated with infertility, this scale pivots toward actionable clinical care. It provides healthcare professionals with a structured method to identify exactly what patients need from their medical team during the grueling process of assisted reproduction.
Developed in response to the growing global prevalence of infertility and the intense physical and psychological toll of treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI), the instrument captures a holistic view of patient requirements. It recognizes that a patient's needs are not static; they fluctuate based on the treatment phase, cultural context, and individual medical history. By systematically assessing these needs, the scale bridges the gap between patient experience and healthcare delivery.
Keywords
📊 Psychometric Scorecard
18
Multidimensional
0.92
📍 South Korea
Authors
Purpose
The primary objective of this instrument is to facilitate patient-centered care in fertility clinics by providing a reliable metric for nursing needs. infertility treatment is notoriously complex, involving rigorous medication schedules, invasive procedures, and significant emotional vulnerability. Clinicians often struggle to gauge whether a patient needs more technical information about their medications, better management of physical side effects, or enhanced emotional support. This scale addresses that clinical blind spot.
For researchers, the tool offers a standardized way to evaluate the efficacy of new nursing interventions or educational programs. By establishing a baseline of patient needs, healthcare systems can allocate resources more effectively, design targeted counseling protocols, and ultimately improve the therapeutic relationship between infertile women and their care providers.
Construct
The scale operationalizes 'nursing care needs' as a multidimensional construct encompassing four distinct domains. The first dimension, physical and psychological needs, captures the demand for help managing the direct side effects of treatment, such as fatigue, pain, and emotional distress. The second dimension focuses on treatment-specific information, reflecting the patient's need to understand complex medical procedures, medication mechanisms, and potential adverse effects.
The third dimension addresses the need for broader disease understanding, encompassing general knowledge about the causes and definitions of infertility. Finally, the fourth dimension measures supportive needs, evaluating how much the patient requires structured emotional backing from family, peers, and healthcare professionals. Together, these factors represent a comprehensive framework of the patient's clinical ecosystem.
Validity
The validation process for this instrument was rigorous and multifaceted. Construct validity was established through exploratory factor analysis, which confirmed that the theoretical dimensions aligned well with the empirical data. The researchers also ensured that the items were highly discriminative, meaning each question strongly mapped to its intended category without excessive overlap into unrelated domains.
To establish criterion-related validity, the developers compared the new scale against an existing measure of infertility policy needs. The analysis revealed a robust positive correlation of r = .63, indicating that women who express high needs for clinical nursing care also tend to advocate for broader systemic and policy-level support. This moderate-to-strong relationship confirms that the scale accurately captures the overarching construct of patient needs while remaining distinct enough to offer unique clinical value.
Convergent & Discriminant Validation Correlations
| Reference Instrument | Correlation Coefficient (r) |
|---|---|
| infertility Policy Needs Scale for Infertile Women | r=0.63 |
Reliability
Internal consistency for the instrument is exceptionally strong, making it highly suitable for both research and clinical applications. The overall scale demonstrated a Cronbach's alpha of .92, indicating that the 18 items work together cohesively to measure the overarching concept of nursing care needs.
Furthermore, the reliability of the individual subscales is equally impressive, with alpha coefficients ranging from .88 to .91. This high degree of internal consistency across all four dimensions ensures that clinicians can confidently use the subscale scores independently. Whether a researcher is looking at the total score or isolating the informational needs subscale, the measurement remains stable and dependable.
Factor Analysis
The factor structure of the scale was derived through an exploratory factor analysis utilizing maximum likelihood estimation and a varimax orthogonal rotation. Starting with a robust pool of 55 preliminary items, the researchers systematically eliminated questions that exhibited poor factor loadings or cross-loaded across multiple domains. This iterative reduction process resulted in a streamlined, highly efficient 18-item scale.
The final four-factor model is statistically robust, explaining 66.0% of the total variance in nursing care needs. The first factor, representing physical and psychological needs, accounts for the largest portion of this variance at 24.2%, highlighting that symptom management and emotional care are paramount for this population. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was excellent at .93, confirming that the data was highly suitable for the factor analytic approach employed.
Subscales
| Subscale | Items | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Physical and psychological nursing care needs | 6 items | Measures the need for clinical assistance in managing physical symptoms (e.g., fatigue, pain, bleeding) and psychological distress (e.g., anxiety, depression) related to infertility treatments. |
| Needs for information regarding treatment | 5 items | Assesses the patient's desire for detailed information about medical procedures, medication mechanisms, side effects, and treatment timelines. |
| Needs for infertility-related understanding and concern | 4 items | Evaluates the need for general education regarding the definition, causes, and diagnostic methods of infertility. |
| Supportive needs | 3 items | Measures the requirement for emotional and structural support from family members, healthcare providers, friends, and colleagues. |
Instrument
| Test Type | Self-report questionnaire |
| Format | 18 items, 4-point Likert scale (1 = not at all necessary to 4 = very necessary) |
| Scoring | Scores are calculated by averaging the items within each subscale or summing for a total score ranging from 18 to 72. Higher scores indicate a greater need for nursing care. |
| Language | Korean |
| Population | Medical patients |
| Age Group | 20-50 years |
| Administration | Self-administered |
Scoring & Interpretation Guidelines
| Scoring Instructions | Sum all 18 items for a total score (18-72), or average items within each of the four subscales to identify specific areas of high need. |
Nursing Care Needs Assessment Scale for Women with Infertility Items
Items are currently not available
The individual items of this scale are not publicly available. Researchers interested in using this instrument should contact the original authors directly to request the scale materials.
Sample
250 married women (mean age 36.4 years) undergoing infertility treatment at four specialized hospitals in Seoul, South Korea.
Cite This Paper
Jummi Park, Nayeon Shin, Kyungmi Lee (2020). nursing care needs Assessment Scale for Women with infertility. Korean journal of women health nursing. https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2020.03.31.1
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Cite this article
Mohammed looti (2026). Nursing Care Needs Assessment Scale for Women with Infertility. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/nursing-care-needs-assessment-scale-for-women-with-infertility/
Mohammed looti. "Nursing Care Needs Assessment Scale for Women with Infertility." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 14 Aug. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/nursing-care-needs-assessment-scale-for-women-with-infertility/.
Mohammed looti. "Nursing Care Needs Assessment Scale for Women with Infertility." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/nursing-care-needs-assessment-scale-for-women-with-infertility/.
Mohammed looti (2026) 'Nursing Care Needs Assessment Scale for Women with Infertility', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/nursing-care-needs-assessment-scale-for-women-with-infertility/.
[1] Mohammed looti, "Nursing Care Needs Assessment Scale for Women with Infertility," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, August, 2026.
Mohammed looti. Nursing Care Needs Assessment Scale for Women with Infertility. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.