Psychometric Properties for the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire in Child and Youth Health Clinics and School Health...

To test and describe the reliability, content and construct validity for the Norwegian translated version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire-Ambulatory Version (SAQ-A) in child and youth health clinics and school health services.

A validation study addressing reliability, content and construct validity.

The SAQ-A was used to measure five factors: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, perceptions of management and working conditions. Research has indicated that the sixth SAQ factor, stress recognition, contributes poorly to the safety climate construct, and it was therefore excluded from the final hypothesised model. An online version of the SAQ-A was used for the data collection. Content validity was addressed. Furthermore, construct validity and reliability were analysed using corrected item total correlation and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and assessing internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). The COSMIN reporting guideline was used as a framework and reference for designing and reporting quality domains in this study of measurement properties in line with the EQUATOR guidelines.

A total of 361 respondents (45% of the invitees) completed the survey. Of these, 307 responses were included in the CFA. The content validity for the SAQ-A was evaluated as good in the child and youth clinics and school health services context. The CFA indicated a satisfactory model fit (ꭓ²/df, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA], PCLOSE and Hoelter 0.05). However, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) was not satisfactory. The internal consistency of the five included factors ranged from α ≥ 0.70-0.81.

This study indicated that the reliability, content and construct validity of the SAQ-A, with five factors, is adequate for measuring healthcare professionals safety climate in child and youth health clinics and school health services in Norway.

The content analysis was carried out in collaboration with an interdisciplinary user group including 10 healthcare professionals.