Empowering safe medication practices: translation and validation of the Malay inpatient medication-safety involvement scale (M-IMSIS).

BACKGROUND: Patient engagement in medication safety is a recognized public health priority that reduces preventable harm and improves clinical outcomes. Despite its importance, Malaysia lacks a validated Malay-language instrument to assess inpatient involvement in medication safety, limiting efforts to tailor interventions and monitor engagement. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and psychometrically validate the Inpatient Medication Safety Involvement Scale (IMSIS) for use among Malay-speaking adult inpatients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 adult inpatients across four wards of a tertiary hospital in Kelantan, Malaysia. The eight-item IMSIS was translated using ISPOR cross-cultural adaptation guidelines, including forward-back translation, expert review, and cognitive debriefing. Content and face validity indices were calculated. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) assessed construct validity, and internal consistency was evaluated using Raykov's rho. RESULTS: The Malay IMSIS demonstrated excellent content (S-CVI = 0.94) and face (S-FVI = 0.87) validity. CFA supported a single-factor structure with acceptable fit after allowing a residual correlation between two self-administration items (χ2 (17) = 27.5, CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.08, SRMR = 0.04). All standardized loadings were ≥0.60, and composite reliability was high (Raykov's ρ = 0.90). The instrument showed good interpretability, with higher scores reflecting greater medication-safety engagement. CONCLUSION: The Malay version of the IMSIS (M-IMSIS) is a brief, culturally appropriate, and psychometrically sound tool for assessing inpatient involvement in medication safety. It supports national and global efforts to enhance patient-centered care and can inform quality improvement initiatives in Malaysia and similar middle-income settings.