Psychometric evaluation of the polish version of the C-HOBIC discharge readiness tool: initial validation in surgical care

Aim. This study aimed to perform a preliminary psychometric evaluation of the Polish version of the Readiness for Discharge Scale, developed within the Canadian Health Outcomes for Better Information and Care (C-HOBIC) project by Sidani and Doran, in a population of surgical patients. Material and methods. The study included 317 patients discharged from three surgical wards general surgery with trauma, urology and transplantology in clinical public, and private hospitals. The Polish version of the readiness for discharge questionnaire published by Andruszkiewicz et al. (8 items; 0–5 scale) was used. Analyses assessed structural validity, unidimensionality, response scale functioning and measurement invariance using Rasch modeling and the Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes approach. Results. The Polish version demonstrated strong psychometric properties, confirming a single-factor structure and the proper functioning of the six-point response scale. No significant item-level differences were found by sex or ward type, supporting measurement invariance across groups. Conclusions. Initial validation supports the clinical utility of the scale for assessing discharge readiness in surgical patients and its potential application in nursing practice. Further research in larger and more diverse samples is needed to confirm the scale stability and enable integration into routine care.