Objective To develop an unmet needs scale for young stroke patients, and test its reliability and validity.

Methods Based on the framework of the theory of holistic health and theory of survival-relationship-growth needs, the initial draft of scale was formed through literature analysis, Delphi expert inquiries and semi-structured interviews. From April 2023 to July 2023, 651 young stroke patients (321 for reliability and validity tests and 330 for confirmatory factor analysis) from 8 tertiary grade A hospitals in Hebei Province were selected for analysis.

Results The total Cronbach coefficient, split-half reliability and test-retest reliability of the scale were 0.942, 0.718, and 0.976, respectively. The content validity of the scale level was 0.913, and the content validity of the item level ranged from 0.857 to 1.000. The results of exploratory factor analysis showed that there were 9 common factors greater than 1, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 70.307%. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the scale factor structure was relatively stable in the eight dimensions. The final unmet needs scale for young stroke patients consists of 8 dimensions and 43 items.

Conclusions The unmet needs scale for young stroke patients has good reliability and validity, and can be used to measure the level of unmet needs in young stroke patients.