Two versions of perspectives on caring for older patients scale: Translation and psychometric testing among Chinese nursing students.

Abstract

This study aimed to translate the Perspectives on Caring for Older Patients scale into Chinese, both the full and the shortened versions, and test its psychometric properties among Chinese nursing students. In this methodological research, the scale were translated and administered to 307 nursing students recruited from two universities in mainland China. The psychometric testing mainly included internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alphas, 2-week test-retest reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient, convergent validity with Kogan's Attitude toward Older People scale, and factorial validity using exploratory factor analysis. Cronbach's alphas for the full and the shortened version scales were 0.77 and 0.75, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient values of both versions exceeded 0.70 and their scores were moderately correlated with the Kogan's Attitude toward Older People scale's scores. While exploratory factor analyses revealed a six-factor structure for the full version with factor loadings of five items below 0.3, the shortened version identified two factors with all factor loadings above 0.3. This study concluded that the psychometric properties of the full version scale were adequate and similar to those of the shortened version except for factorial validity.