LAUSR

OBJECTIVES to assess the reliability and validity of the 46 items version of the comfort scale for family members of people in critical condition. METHODS a methodological study, carried out with 278 family members of critically ill patients, admitted to adult and pediatric intensive care units, in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. The analyzes were based on the Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory. RESULTS Horn's parallel analysis and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis did not identify the scale's unidimensionality nor the tridimensionality. The maximum factor loads were positive. The scale proved to be reliable (α=0.93 and Ω=0.63), most item-total correlations were greater than 0.28 and the discrimination coefficients were greater than one. CONCLUSIONS the scale showed satisfactory reliability and relative construct validity. However, the recommended tridimensional structure for the scale has not been confirmed.