The Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS): An examination of its factor structure using paramedic students

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Understanding students' attitudes towards certain medical conditions and diagnoses is an important part of the foundational education that students receive prior to their progression into the health care workforce. Therefore having instruments such as the Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS) with strong measurement properties is important for health care professions. The objective of this paper was to examine the factor structure of the MCRS when completed by a group of undergraduate paramedic and paramedic/nursing students. Data from the MCRS completed by 783 paramedic students were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) followed by a maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test goodness-of-fit to the sample data. Two factors emerged from the EFA labelled Positive Regard and Negative Regard that accounted for 52.67% of the total variance. The 10-item 2-factor model produced good model-fit and good reliability estimates. One MCRS item was discarded since it loaded on a single factor and was not considered to be viable as a stand-alone subscale. Findings from the CFA suggest that the new 10-item version of the MCRS is a valid and reliable measure for determining undergraduate paramedic students' regard for medical conditions. The new 2-factor model appears to be defined by Positive Regard and Negative Regard factors.