Background: Perceived Social Support which referred to an individual's extent of satisfaction regarding his/her necessary support, information, and interactions. According to (Procidano, 1983), PSS is a key element for understanding supportive behavior and is assumed to determine its association with depression. This 12-item scale is considered a substantial component that influences the emotional well-being of chronic patients. Hence, this paper is intended to validate the English version of Perceived Social Support among WLHIV.
Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in WLHIV who attends the ART treatment of selected hospitals. A total of 357 attendees were recruited for a broader mixed-method designed study. The English version of PSS was translated into a national Somali language. The internal consistency was measured to analyze the reliability and Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was used to determine the validity of the study.
Results: The findings of this study reveals that the PSS has shown a good internal consistency with Cronbach alpha greater than 0.60. Based on the principle component analysis, the validity construct of the scale was also measured showing a Varimax rotation of the components was successfully loaded and eigenvalue was greater than 1.
Conclusion: This version, Perceived Social Support (PSS) is fit to be introduced in the health institutions for screening the level of support of chronic patients particularly its suitability for applications in the ART treatment services.