Psychometric Properties of the Heart Disease Knowledge Scale: Evidence from Item and Confirmatory Factor Analyses

Psychometric Properties of Clinical Learning Environment Comparison Survey Questionnaire in Nursing Students

INTRODUCTION

Continuous evaluations of clinical education and learning in nursing require the use of valid and reliable instruments. The present study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the CLECS questionnaire (a questionnaire for assessing the clinical learning environment) in nursing students.

METHODS

This is a psychometric study conducted on 118 nursing students. Through email correspondence with the corresponding author, permission was obtained from the developer to translate, validate, and use the CLECS. The CLECS was translated into Persian. The psychometric process was performed after the translation and cultural adaptation steps. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability. The instrument validity was assessed through convergent, discriminant, and confirmatory factor analysis. We used AMOS 18 for confirmatory factor analysis and SPSS-20 for reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity.

RESULTS

A total of 118 nursing students participated in the study. The Cronbach's alpha value of the questionnaire was 0.942. Convergent validity was obtained in all dimensions above 0.4. The confirmatory factor analysis results confirmed the fit of the final model and showed that the present questionnaire was 6-dimensional. Most of the questions in the questionnaire did not have a good differential validity. The highest and lowest means were related to the nursing process and holism dimensions, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings of this study, CLECS, except in the discriminant validity, has good validity and reliability, which can be considered to examine the learning environment of undergraduate nursing students.

The Persian validation of the Coronary Artery Disease Education Questionnaire Short Version for education of patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation

BACKGROUND

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of cardiovascular death worldwide. Therefore, assessing knowledge in patients with CAD needs a specific tool. This study aims to carry out the Persian validation of the Coronary Artery Disease Education Questionnaire Short Version (CADE-Q SV) for education of patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR).

METHODS

This study was a cross-sectional study. First, the original version of the CADE-Q SV was translated from English into Farsi using the standard approach. The face validity and content validity were measured using quantitative and qualitative approaches. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was done to examine the construct validity. The reliability of the questionnaire was investigated through test-retest reliability and by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. SPSS software was used to analyze the data, and the R package lavaan, to approve the CFA.

RESULTS

The result of quantitative face validity showed that the minimum score was 4.42. The minimum scores for quantitative content validity were 0.83 for content validity index (CVI) and 0.66 for content validity ratio (CVR); therefore, all the items were approved. According to the results of the CFA, the comparative fit index (CFI) was reported to be 0.969, indicating a good fit for the items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole instrument was 0.679, and the test-retest correlation was measured to be > 0.4, after a 2-week interval.

CONCLUSION

In total, it can be concluded that the CADE-Q SV has good psychometric properties and proper reliability. It can be utilized in medical and CR centers.

Modelling knowledge, health beliefs, and health-promoting behaviours related to cardiovascular disease prevention among Malaysian university students

Background

Healthy lifestyle habits formed during young adulthood may have a sustaining impact on health across later life. The current study aimed to test the theoretical model of factors (selected demographic variables, knowledge of heart disease, health belief related to cardiovascular disease (CVD), self-efficacy, cues to action, and screening intention) influencing health-promoting behaviours among Malaysian university students.

Methods

In a cross-sectional survey, the undergraduate students in Universiti Sains Malaysia were invited to complete the self-administered questionnaires. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling method. The proposed hypothesised model was analysed using a structural equation modelling with Mplus 7.3 program. A total of 788 (70.7% female) undergraduate students with a mean age of 20.2 (SD = 1.02) participated in the study. The primary outcome of knowledge, health beliefs, and health-promoting behaviours related to CVD were measured by questionnaires namely: Knowledge of Heart Disease, Health Beliefs Related to CVD, and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profiles-II.

Results

The final hypothetical structural model showed a good fit to the data based on several fit indices: with comparative fit index (CFI) at .921, standardised root mean square residual (SRMR) at .037, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) at .044 (90% CI: .032, .054). The final structural model supported 13 significant path estimates. These variables explained 12% of the total variance in health-promoting behaviours. Through perceived benefits, total knowledge had an indirect effect on health-promoting behaviours.

Conclusion

The results suggest that perceived barriers, perceived benefits, family history of CVD, and screening intention enable young adults to engage in health-promoting behaviours.

"Would You Rather Jump Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane or Develop Cardiovascular Disease?" Validity and Reliability of the Cardiovascular Risk Perception Survey Among Military Personnel

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in the United States. The military are viewed as fit, ready to fight and that jumping out of perfectly good airplane or going to war is a greater risk than CVD. The purpose of this study was to determine reliability and validity of the Cardiovascular Risk Perception Survey (CRPS).

METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive design was performed, supported by the Health Belief Model. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) and validity (principal component analysis) were examined.

RESULTS

Fifty-five participants were included in this study. Construct validity of the CRPS was supported by principal component analysis; indicating one scale that measured cardiovascular risk perception. The Cronbach's alpha is reported .865.

CONCLUSION

Initial psychometric testing of the CRPS provides evidence for construct validity and internal consistency reliability.

Measuring Availability, Prices and Affordability of Ischaemic Heart Disease Medicines in Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Background

This study is aimed to analyse the availability, prices and affordability of medicines for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

Methods

A quantitative research was carried out using the methodology developed by the World Health Organization and Health Action International (WHO/HAI). The prices were compared with international reference prices (IRPs) to obtain a median price ratio. The daily wage of the lowest paid unskilled government worker was used as the standard of the affordability for the medicines. In this study, ten medicines of the IHD were included. The data were collected from 10 private medicine outlets for both originator brand (OB) and lowest-priced generic brand (LPG) in Bangi, Selangor.

Results

From the results, the mean availability of OB and LPG were 30% and 42%, respectively. Final patient prices for LPG and OB were about 10.77 and 24.09 times their IRPs, respectively. Medicines that consumes more than a day's wage are considered unaffordable. Almost half of the IHD medications cost more than one day's wage. For example, the lowest paid unskilled government worker would need 1.4 days' wage for captopril, while 1.2 days' wage to purchase enalapril for LPG. Meanwhile, for OB, the costs rise to 3.4 days' wage for amlodipine and 3.3 days' wage for simvastatin.

Conclusion

The findings of this study emphasise the need of focusing and financing, particularly in the private sector, on making chronic disease medicines accessible. This requires multi-faceted interventions, as well as the review of policies and regulations.