Instruments measuring interprofessional collaboration in healthcare - a scoping review

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Health Services Research
• Nursing and Medical Education

Background:

• Growing recognition of interprofessional collaboration's importance in healthcare delivery.
• Limited understanding of validated instruments for measuring interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze existing instruments used to measure interprofessional collaboration in healthcare.
• To address the gap in knowledge regarding the measurement of healthcare professional teamwork.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review design was employed.
• Systematic literature search conducted on Medline (PubMed) and CINAHL databases.
• Content analysis used to analyze data from 35 selected studies.

Main Results:

• A total of 29 instruments for measuring interprofessional collaboration were identified.
• Measurement predominantly focused on collaboration between nurses and physicians across various settings.
• Psychometric testing was found to be unsystematic, with a focus on construct validity, content validity, and internal consistency.

Conclusions:

• The findings provide a resource for selecting instruments for interprofessional collaboration measurement in research and practice.
• Further validation studies with comprehensive psychometric testing are necessary to enhance the reliability and validity of existing instruments.
• Future research should focus on strengthening the evidence base for the psychometric properties of these measurement tools.