Psychometric properties of a questionnaire assessing nursing professionals′ knowledge regarding etiology and prevention of viral hepatitis B and C

Abstract

Background: Viral hepatitis B and C are a global public health problem. For better targeting their detection and prevention, nursing professionals' should have adequate knowledge and skills. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed at developing a viral hepatitis questionnaire and then validating it among nursing professionals' working in a Medical College of North India. Materials and Methods: A fifteen-item questionnaire was developed by the principal investigator. This was based on a systematic search in database namely PubMed IndMed Directory of Open Access journals and Google scholar. It was then administered to 318 nursing professionals'. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were assessed in terms of construct validity and reliability. Results: The average age of the study subjects was 23.4 years (SD = 17.2, range = 18 years-54 years). Sampling adequacy as measured by Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test was 0.82. This indicated relevance of the factorial model. Varimax rotation revealed that all items had achieved the required loading of 0.3. The internal consistency ranged from 0.81 to 0.87. The intra class correlation coefficient ranged from 0.67 to 0.71. Conclusion: Viral hepatitis questionnaire (VHQ) appears to be a reliable and valid measure of assessing nursing professionals' knowledge about viral hepatitis B and C. Its periodic use can serve the purpose of assessing nursing professionals' training needs. It is further recommended that it should be tested among nursing staff in different healthcare facilities of India, in order to assess its wider performance.