Development and psychometric evaluation of a Positive Health measurement scale: a factor analysis study based on a...

Area of Science:

• Health Psychology
• Psychometrics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• The My Positive Health (MPH) dialogue tool is widely used by healthcare professionals for health support.
• There is a growing need to measure the impact of interventions on Positive Health dimensions.
• The existing MPH dialogue tool was not originally designed for measurement purposes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt the MPH dialogue tool into a suitable measurement scale.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of a proposed measurement model derived from the MPH dialogue tool.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 708 respondents.
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to determine the factor structure.
• Reliability and discriminant validity were assessed using Cronbach's alpha tests.

Main Results:

• A 17-item, six-factor model was extracted, with factors including physical fitness, mental functions, and social relations.
• The proposed model demonstrated good to very good reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.820–0.920).
• The MPH model showed some overlap between domains, indicating potential issues with discriminant validity.

Conclusions:

• The current MPH dialogue tool is reliable for dialogue but not as a measurement scale.
• A proposed 17-item model offers acceptable psychometric properties for measuring Positive Health.
• Further development is recommended to refine this model into a robust measurement scale.