SPECIAL FEATURES:METHODS Study of the Reliability and Validity of the Community Health Intensity Rating Scale (CHIRS) in the Turkish Community Aysun C° elebiog ï lu, Sˇheyla Altug ï Úzsoy, and Donna Peters ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Community Health Intensity Rating Scale (CHIRS) that was translated into the Turkish language and applied in the Turkish community. The CHIRS is a tool that assesses the intensity of need for care of persons/families in the community. The original version of the tool was translated into Turkish, examined for face validity and language appropriateness by the Turkish experts, and then applied to 372 families living in Odemis, Tur- key. Significant correlations were found between total scale score (TSS) and total number of household members, and between the TSS and the total number of visits to any health institution within the previous month. In addition, the self-health care needs evaluation scores supported predictive validity. For relia- bility, min–max values, standard errors and deviations, skewness, and kurtosis coefficients of parameter scores, domain scores, and TSS were examined. The mean TSS was 26.7 ( 5.32) and the mean age of the participants was 35.0 years. For internal consistency, Cronbach’s a (.525) and Guttman split-half coefficient (.629) values were established for the TSS. In conclusion, the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of CHIRS have been established. Key words: CHIRS, reliability, Turkish community, validity. Historically, in Turkey, major progress in the provi- sion of health services began with the ‘‘Statute of Socialization of Health Services’’ in 1961. Socialization of health services was defined as providing health services free or partly free of charge at the point of care. The goal was to expand health care services to make them easily and equally accessible to the whole population. This socialization applied to preventive and curative care and to health education, and was called an integrated model. Although there are differ- ing views on the underlying reason, it is generally agreed that the socialization of health services has not produced the expected outcomes. Therefore, since the late 1980s, movements to reform the health system have intensified (Savas, Karahan, & Saka, 2002). During that time, public health services have receded. And, although the rate of health expenditures has been steadily increasing since 1999, they are still quite a small part of the total budget (3.9% in 2005) in Turkey (Orhaner, 2006). Currently, the Turkish Health System is moving toward privatization, and away from the ‘‘Socialization of Health Services’’ (Soyer, 2000). Today, the Turkish Ministry of Health (TMoH) provides primary, secondary, and tertiary care to the 71,337,204 persons in Turkey (Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2003). Health services are mostly provided by the government-run referral system of Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in rural areas, and health centers and hospitals in urban areas. The Aysun C° elebiog ï lu, M.D., M.S.N., is Community Health NursingTrainer, Ege University, I ˙ zmir,Turkey.Sˇheyla Altug ï Úzsoy, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Public Health Nursing Department, Ege University Nursing High School, I ˙ zmir, Turkey. Donna Peters, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., is Professor, St. Petersburg College, St. Peters- burg, Florida. Correspondence to: Aysun C° elebiog ï lu, Ege Universitesi Údemi ¸ s Sag ï l { k Yˇksekokulu, Atatˇrk Mah. Atatˇrk Cad. No: 3 Údemi ¸ s, I ˙ zmir, Turkey 35730. E-mail: izmiryunus@ yahoo.com; acelebioglu709@hotmail.com 283 Public Health Nursing Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 283–292 0737-1209/r 2007, The Authors Journal Compilation r 2007, Blackwell Publishing, Inc.