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Design and Development of a Self-Report Competence Scale for The Assessment of Prehospital Health Professionals’ Competence in Response to Radiological Events

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2025

Hüseyin Koçak Open the ORCID record for Hüseyin Koçak [Opens in a new window] ,
Nihal Dağ Open the ORCID record for Nihal Dağ [Opens in a new window] ,
Cüneyt Çalışkan Open the ORCID record for Cüneyt Çalışkan [Opens in a new window] ,
Ahmet Doğan Kuday Open the ORCID record for Ahmet Doğan Kuday [Opens in a new window]  and
Kerem Kınık
Hüseyin Koçak
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Aid and Disaster Management, Hamidiye Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Turkey
Nihal Dağ*
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster Medicine, Hamidiye Institute of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Turkey
Cüneyt Çalışkan
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Aid and Disaster Management, Hamidiye Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Turkey
Ahmet Doğan Kuday
Affiliation:
Department Of Medical Services And Techniques, First Aid And Emergency Care Program, Vocational School Of Health Services, Bezmialem Vakıf University, Istanbul Turkey
Kerem Kınık
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Aid and Disaster Management, Hamidiye Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Nihal Dağ; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objectives

The objective of this study was to develop a self-report scale for the assessment of the competence of pre-hospital health professionals in responding to radiological incidents.

Methods

Based on the findings of a systematic review analyzing the literature, the instrument followed the processes of item generation, expert opinion, language control, pilot study, and field testing.

Results

In the exploratory factor analysis, 48 items were excluded on the grounds of insufficient common variance (>0.40) and factor loading relationship (>0.50). The remaining 18 items (11 negative and 7 positive items) exhibited a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.913 and a range of 0.740 to 0.887 in the sub-factors. As the scores on the developed scale increased, there was a corresponding increase in the perceived adequacy of the interventions.

Conclusions

The objective, scope, constraints and stages of the scale’s design and development were elucidated in comprehensive detail, and its intelligibility to other societies was ensured. The scale was developed as a self-report scale that can evaluate the competence of prehospital health professionals in radiological incidents.

Keywords

self-report competence scaleprehospital health professionalsradiological eventsresponse
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e332
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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