Psychometric properties of the reduced version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool)

Abstract

Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the reduced version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool) for adult patients in the Brazilian National Health Survey 2019, a nationally representative population-based study. Methods: The reduced version of PCATool-adults measures the presence and extent of the following attributes: degree of affiliation; first-contact access; longitudinality; care coordination; comprehensiveness; family orientation; and community orientation. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed. Results: The final sample consisted of 9,396 individuals. The PCATool latent variable for adults was related to two questionnaire items, one referring to the Degree of Affiliation attribute and the other to the Community Orientation attribute. Additionally, five latent variables, formed by 21 items, identified the other five attributes through standardized factor loadings. Conclusion: The reduced version of PCATool-Adult has good psychometric properties and captures the attributes of Primary Health Care.