Occupational Therapy Acute Care Self-Efficacy Scale (OTACSES): Development, Test-Retest Reliability, and Precision

Area of Science:

• Occupational Therapy Education
• Healthcare Professional Training
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Occupational therapy (OT) practice in acute care demands specialized skills for complex patient populations.
• A standardized tool to measure OT students' self-efficacy in acute care settings is currently lacking.
• Self-efficacy is crucial for effective occupational therapy service delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Occupational Therapy Acute Care Self-Efficacy Scale (OTACSES).
• To assess the test-retest reliability and precision of the OTACSES in first-year OT students.
• To establish preliminary benchmarks for clinically meaningful change in self-efficacy scores.

Main Methods:

• Scale items were developed using literature review, expert interviews, and student input.
• The OTACSES was administered to 47 OT students, followed by item reduction.
• The scale was re-administered after a one-week control period to assess test-retest reliability and precision.

Main Results:

• The finalized "knowledge" and "abilities" subscales exhibited excellent internal consistency.
• The OTACSES demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability and acceptable precision for total and subscale scores.
• Preliminary data suggest meaningful changes of 5, 3, and 7 points for abilities, knowledge, and total scores, respectively.

Conclusions:

• The OTACSES is a reliable and precise instrument for evaluating occupational therapy students' self-efficacy in acute care.
• The scale provides a foundation for future research on acute care OT education outcomes.
• Further investigation is warranted to explore its use with practitioners and as an educational outcome measure.