Psychometric Properties of the WHO-5 Well-Being Index among Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Three Countries

Mariela Loreto Lara-Cabrera, Moisés Betancort, Amparo Muñoz-Rubilar, Natalia Rodríguez-Novo, Ottar Bjerkeset and Carlos De las Cuevas
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Mariela Loreto Lara-Cabrera: Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7091 Trondheim, Norway
Moisés Betancort: Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychobiology and Methodology, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Amparo Muñoz-Rubilar: Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Central de Chile, Santiago 8370178, Chile
Natalia Rodríguez-Novo: Departament of Nursing, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Ottar Bjerkeset: Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University, Levanger Campus, 8026 Levanger, Norway
Carlos De las Cuevas: Department of Internal Medicine, Dermatology and Psychiatry, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: Nurses’ well-being has been increasingly recognised due to the ongoing pandemic. However, no validation scales measuring nurses’ well-being currently exist. Thus, we aimed to validate the WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5) in a sample of nurses. A cross-sectional multinational study was conducted, and a total of 678 nurses who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain (36.9%), Chile (40.0%) and Norway (23.1%) participated in this study. The nurses completed the WHO-5, the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) and three questions about the quality of life (QoL). The WHO-5 demonstrated good reliability and validity in the three countries. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from 0.81 to 0.90. High correlations were found between the WHO-5 and the psychological well-being dimension of QoL, and negative correlations between the WHO-5 and PHQ-2. The unidimensional scale structure was confirmed in all the countries, explaining more than 68% of the variance. The item response theory likelihood ratio model did not show discernible differences in the WHO-5 across the countries. To conclude, the WHO-5 is a psychometrically sound scale for measuring nurses’ well-being during a pandemic. The scale showed strong construct validity for cross-cultural comparisons; however, more research is required with larger sample sizes.

Keywords: COVID-19; cross-cultural; item response theory; measurement invariance; mental health; nursing staff; pandemics; public health; validation; WHO-5 Well-Being Index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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