Healthcare professionals’ digital health competence and its core factors; development and psychometric testing of two instruments

Jarva, E., Oikarinen, A., Andersson, J., Tomietto, Marco, Kääriäinen, M. and Mikkonen, K. (2023) Healthcare professionals’ digital health competence and its core factors; development and psychometric testing of two instruments. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 171. p. 104995. ISSN 1386-5056

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Abstract

Background
Healthcare professionals’ digital health competence is an important phenomenon to study as healthcare practices are changing globally. Recent research aimed to define this complex phenomenon and identify the current state of healthcare professionals’ competence in digitalisation but did not include an overarching outlook when measuring digital health competence of healthcare professionals.

Objectives
The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically validate two self-assessed instruments measuring digital health competence and factors associating with it.

Methods
The study followed three phases of instrument development and validation: 1) conceptualisation and item pool generation; 2) content validity testing and pilot study; and 3) construct validity and reliability testing. The conceptual background of the instruments was based on individual interviews conducted with healthcare professionals (n = 20) and previous systematic reviews. A total of 17 experts assessed the instrument’s content validity. Face validity was evaluated by a group of healthcare professionals (n = 20). Data collection from 817 professionals took place in spring-summer 2022 in nine organisations. Construct validity was confirmed with exploratory factor analysis. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the internal consistency of the instruments.

Results
The instrument development and validation process resulted in two instruments: DigiHealthCom and DigiComInf. DigiHealthCom included 42 items in 5 factors related to digital health competence, and DigiComInf included 15 items in 3 factors related to educational and organisational factors associated with digital health competence. The DigiHealthCom instrument explained 68.9 % of the total variance and the factors’ Cronbach alpha values varied between 0.91 and 0.97. The DigiComInf instrument explained 59.6 % of the total variance and the factors’ Cronbach alpha values varied between 0.76 and 0.88.

Conclusions
The two instruments gave valid and reliable results in psychometric testing. The instruments could be used to evaluate healthcare professionals’ digital health competence and associated factors.

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