[Digital competencies of health professionals: German translation and content validation of DigiHealthCom and...

Digital competencies of health professionals: German translation and content validation of DigiHealthCom and DigiComInf Abstract: Background: Digitalisation in the healthcare sector places new demands on the skills of healthcare professionals. In German-speaking countries, comprehensive instruments that consider both, individual competencies and organisational aspects, are lacking. The English-language instruments DigiHealthCom (5 Factors, 42 Items) and DigiComInf (3 Factors, 15 Items) measure these dimensions; however, they are not available in German. Aim: Culturally sensitive translation and content validation of both measurement instruments. Methods: The translation followed international guidelines using forward and backward translation to ensure conceptual and semantic equivalence. Two tests were conducted with twelve and seven specifically selected healthcare professionals, respectively, to determine content equivalence (relevance, comprehensibility) and content validity using the Content Validity Index (CVI) at item level (I-CVI) and scale level (S-CVI/Ave). Results: Conceptual equivalence and relevance were supported for all factors. Semantic adjustments were made to eight items in DigiHealthCom. Due to insufficient S-CVI/Ave values for relevance (DigiHealthCom: 0.86; DigiComInf: 0.69) and clarity (0.93; 0.90) 27 items were revised. The second test reached appropriate S-CVI/Ave values for relevance (0.90; 0.76) and clarity (0.97; 0.97). Conclusions: DigiHealthCom and DigiComInf are culturally adapted and content-valid instruments for assessing digital health literacy in German-speaking countries. A follow-up study on measurement equivalence is currently being conducted.