[Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Relational Coordination Scale]

The Relational Coordination Scale is used to measure teamwork with specific subjects about specific tasks. We translated the scale into Japanese (J-RCS) and examined its reliability and validity.

We translated the scale into Japanese. In July 2013, we conducted an internet survey for 124 home visiting nurses of 11 agencies in Shiga prefecture. The J-RCS items asked about teamwork with physicians, care managers, and colleague nurses.

Eighty-one home visiting nurses (65.3%) answered the survey, and 70 (56.5% of the responders) answered the re-test survey. Cronbach's alpha coefficients of J-RCS were 0.770 to 0.859, and the intraclass correlation coefficients for test-retest reliability were 0.673 to 0.830 (P<0.001). In the confirmatory factor analysis, only J-RCS ［physicians］ met the well fit indices and showed factorial validity. Concurrent validity was supported by correlations of J-RCS and the degree of confidence about collaboration (r=0.559 to 0.585, P<0.001) and social support (r=0.549 to 0.789, P<0.001).

While issues such as factorial validity and the concentration of responses on some scale items will be a topic for further research, the J-RCS has been shown to have an acceptable level of reliability and validity.