Development and validation of a questionnaire on knowledge and practices of disinfection and sterilization among healthcare workers

Abstract

Aims: To develop and validate a questionnaire to measure knowledge and practices of disinfection and sterilization among healthcare workers. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire in Bahasa Melayu, comprising 2 sections of knowledge (15 items) and practices (15 items), was developed based on available literature and expert opinions. Content validity was assessed by 9 experts while face validity was tested on 12 subjects. Psychometric properties were evaluated on 67 respondents in the pilot study, using 2 parameter logistic item response theory (2PL-IRT), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha. Data were analyzed with R version 3.5.1. Results: The content validity index for knowledge and practices were 0.96 and 0.92 (after omitting 2 items), respectively, denoting good relevancy of the items. Assessment of face validity index showed the values of 0.86 for knowledge and 0.83 for practices (after dropping 1 item), indicating that the questionnaire was well-understood by respondents. In the pilot study, 2PL-IRT and EFA revealed that the questionnaire had good psychometric properties after the removal of 2 poor quality items from each section. As for internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were determined to be acceptable; 0.72 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.623, 0.818] for knowledge and 0.803 (95% CI: 0.733, 0.803) for practices. The validated questionnaire consisted of a total of 23 items; knowledge (13 items) and practices (10 items). Conclusions: A self-administered questionnaire on knowledge and practices of disinfection and sterilization among healthcare workers was developed and validated. Future recommendation is for confirmatory analysis to be carried out to verify and maximize the psychometric credentials of the questionnaire.