Development and Validation of a Tobacco Testing Laboratories Assessment Tool

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Laboratory Science
• Regulatory Science

Background:

• Effective tobacco product regulation necessitates robust laboratory testing.
• A global standard for evaluating tobacco testing laboratories is currently lacking.
• This study addresses the need for a standardized assessment tool aligned with WHO-FCTC Article 9.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a comprehensive assessment tool for tobacco testing laboratories.
• To establish a standardized method for evaluating laboratory capacity in tobacco product analysis.
• To support the implementation of effective testing and regulation measures for tobacco products.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review and a two-round Delphi technique with 24 experts.
• Validation in four National Tobacco Testing Laboratories in India.
• Psychometric evaluation including content validity (I-CVI, S-CVI), construct validity (EFA, CFA), and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha).

Main Results:

• The final Tobacco Testing Laboratory Assessment Tool (TTLAT) includes 213 items across 11 domains.
• Excellent content validity and good model fit in confirmatory factor analysis (CFI=0.91, TLI=0.90, RMSEA=0.05, SRMR=0.06).
• High internal consistency reliability across factors (Cronbach's alpha 0.72-0.92) and six factors explaining 52.5% of variance.

Conclusions:

• The TTLAT possesses strong psychometric properties.
• It offers a comprehensive and standardized approach for assessing tobacco testing laboratory capacity.
• The tool supports global efforts in tobacco control and product regulation.