Multicentre Delphi consensus-based development and validation of the Tele-ESSI-KAP scale: Assessing epilepsy...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Epilepsy Management

Background:

• Teachers play a vital role in supporting students with epilepsy.
• Validated instruments for assessing teacher knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding epilepsy are scarce.
• This study addresses the need for a reliable tool to evaluate epilepsy-related competencies among school personnel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and psychometrically validate the Tele-School Health-Led Epilepsy Smart Schools in India (ESSI) KAP Scale.
• To create an instrument assessing epilepsy-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among school teachers and staff.
• To establish a standardized measure for epilepsy management competencies in educational settings.

Main Methods:

• A multicentre, descriptive, cross-sectional Delphi study involving 760 school teachers across India.
• Development of a 102-item pool, refined through expert consensus (≥80%) to a 33-item scale.
• Psychometric validation included construct validity (exploratory factor analysis) and reliability testing (Cronbach's alpha, ICCs, Bland-Altman analysis) across multiple language versions.

Main Results:

• The final 33-item Tele-ESSI-KAP Scale covers Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Rescue Medicine domains.
• Excellent content validity (S-CVI = 0.92) and high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.78-0.99) were observed.
• Strong test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.71-0.99) and conceptual equivalence across translations (r = 0.264-0.995) confirmed the scale's robustness.

Conclusions:

• The Tele-ESSI-KAP Scale is a psychometrically sound and culturally adaptable instrument for assessing teacher competencies in school-based epilepsy management.
• The scale provides a standardized framework to improve teacher preparedness for emergency seizure response.
• It aims to guide targeted training and promote equitable epilepsy care within Indian educational institutions.