To IPAS or not to IPAS? Examining the construct validity of the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale in Hong Kong

J Interprof Care. 2022 Jan-Feb;36(1):127-134. doi: 10.1080/13561820.2020.1869705. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Abstract

Students' attitudes toward interprofessional teamwork can be linked to successful interprofessional education. This points to the importance of identifying a scale that may be useful in keeping track of the change in students' attitudes over time. In response to this, using a combination of within- and between-network approaches to construct validity, we examined the psychometric acceptability of the Interprofessional Attitude Scale (IPAS) involving 274 Chinese healthcare and social care pre-licensure students in Hong Kong. Overall results indicated that IPAS had good internal consistency. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis provided support to the overall five-factor solution although one negatively worded item obtained non-significant factor loading. Results of the between-network analysis suggest that various subscales of IPAS correlated systematically with other theoretically relevant variables: teamwork attitudes, communication, and team effectiveness. The IPAS is a valid measure to examine predominantly Chinese healthcare and social care students' interprofessional attitudes in online interprofessional education.

Keywords: Construct validation; interprofessional attitudes; interprofessional education.

MeSH terms

  • Attitude of Health Personnel*
  • Hong Kong
  • Humans
  • Interprofessional Relations*
  • Patient Care Team
  • Psychometrics / methods
  • Surveys and Questionnaires