The validity and reliability of the patient enablement instrument (PEI) after GP appointments in Finnish health care centres

Elina Tolvanen,Tuomas H Koskela,Mika Helminen,Elise Kosunen

doi:10.1186/s41687-020-00243-4

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) in Finnish health care centre patients. A pilot study was conducted to assess the content validity of the PEI. A questionnaire study in three health care centres in Western Finland was performed in order to assess acceptability, construct validity, internal consistency, and measurement error of the instrument. A telephone interview 2 weeks after the appointment was performed to evaluate reproducibility.ResultsThe pilot study with 17 participants indicated good content validity of the PEI. In the questionnaire study, altogether 483 with a completed PEI score were included in the analyses. Factor analysis and item-scale correlations suggested high structural validity. The internal consistency of the instrument was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.93). The PEI score diminished strongly over the two-week period.ConclusionsThe PEI has good content validity and acceptability, good construct validity, high internal consistency but low reproducibility. Thus, the PEI seems to be an applicable tool to measure patient enablement in Finnish primary health care.

Highlights

The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) in Finnish health care centre patients
Content validity: the pilot study Altogether, 32 patients heading for a GP appointment were reached, 21 patients gave their consent, and 17 patients completed the pilot study
During the data collection period, we reached 940 patients heading for a GP appointment, which was 79.3% of all the patients

Summary

Introduction

The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) in Finnish health care centre patients. A questionnaire study in three health care centres in Western Finland was performed in order to assess acceptability, construct validity, internal consistency, and measurement error of the instrument. In Finland, the health care system is about to undergo a large reform, and one aspect of this will involve the client’s wider freedom to choose where to obtain health and social services [2]. Under these circumstances, instruments to evaluate health care quality are needed. We have used the COSMIN checklist for methodological studies [4] as a guideline when designing the study, as well as the recently published COSMIN Risk for Bias checklist when writing this paper [5]

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Discussion

Conclusion