The Dutch residency educational climate test: construct and concurrent validation in Spanish language

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Psychometrics
• Cross-cultural Adaptation of Instruments

Background:

• The Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test (D-RECT) is a crucial tool for evaluating residency training environments.
• Adapting and validating instruments like the D-RECT for different linguistic and cultural contexts is essential for global research.
• Previous validation studies for the D-RECT have focused on its original Dutch context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate the 35-item Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test (D-RECT) into Spanish.
• To assess the reliability, construct validity, and concurrent validity of the Spanish version of the D-RECT.
• To determine the suitability of the Spanish D-RECT for evaluating the learning climate in residency programs within Spanish-speaking regions.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 220 paper-based resident evaluations from two Colombian universities.
• Translation of the D-RECT following international recommendations.
• Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to assess construct validity and Cronbach's alpha for reliability.
• Pearson correlations were used to examine concurrent validity with the Spanish version of the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM).

Main Results:

• The Spanish D-RECT demonstrated an appropriate fit to the original 9-factor structure (CFI = 0.84, TLI = 0.82, SRMSR = 0.06, RMSA = 0.06).
• Reliability coefficients were satisfactory, with Cronbach's alpha exceeding 0.70.
• A significant positive correlation (r = 0.7, p<0.01) was found between the total scores of the Spanish D-RECT and the PHEEM, supporting concurrent validity.

Conclusions:

• The Spanish version of the D-RECT is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the educational learning climate in residency programs.
• The validated Spanish D-RECT is suitable for use in evaluating departments' learning climate within the Spanish context.
• Further research is recommended to confirm these findings in other Spanish-speaking countries.