Perception of Effects of Shiftwork Questionnaire (PESQ) among Ambulance Service Staff in Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

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Objective: Despite efforts in describing the impact of shiftwork on the performance of health care workers, the perception of ambulance service staff is largely unexplored. This study attempted to develop the Perception of Effects of Shiftwork Questionnaire (PESQ) using a factor analysis approach to determine the underlying dimensions. Methods: A 16-item Likert scale research instrument, designed to gather information about the perceived effects of shiftwork on the respondents’ health, social relationships, and career quality, was floated to 375 ambulance services personnel in Saudi Arabia during March and April 2021. Results: Based on factor analysis, the questionnaire has three dimensions with varying reliability, namely “perceived effects on social relationship” (α = 0.815), perceived effects on health (α = 0.787) and “perceived effects on career quality” (α = 0.602). Over-all, the research instrument had an acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.829). Conclusion: The three-dimension model was analyzed simultaneously using parallel analysis and confirms that the three-factor model is the most ideal for the research instrument. Further research, however, is recommended to improve the internal consistency of the items which measure the perceived effects on career quality.