Abstract: Objective: To develop the Return-to-Work Obstacles Scale for young and middle-aged patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and to test its reliability and validity, in order to provide reliable tools for evaluating the the degree of return-to-work obstacles in young and middle-aged patients with AMI. Methods: Based on Feuerstein model, the initial scale was formed by literature research, qualitative interview and Delphi technique. Using convenience sampling method, 414 young and middle-aged patients with AMI in a general hospital in Zhejiang province from August to November 2022 were recruited for formal investigation, and items were screened and the reliability and validity of the scale were tested. Results: The Return-to-Work Obstacles Scale for young and middle-aged patients with AMI included 4 dimensions and 20 items. The exploratory factor analysis finally extracted 4 common factors, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 64.437%. The content validity of each item of the scale ranged from 0.80 to 1.00, and the average content validity was 0.94. The total scale Cronbach's α value and retest reliability were 0.915 and 0.997, respectively. Conclusion: The scale has good reliability and validity, and can be used as a tool to evaluate the degree of return-to-work obstacles in young and middle-aged patients with AMI.

Key words: return to work; Acute Myocardial Infarction; young and middle-aged; obstacle; scale; reliability; validity