Development and psychometric testing of determining the Attitudes of Immigrants towards Utilization Health Care Services (DAIUHCS) Scale: A Validation and Reliability Study

Abstract

Background: Factors affecting immigrants' use of health services have been examined in many studies, some of them in nursing. However, no measurement tool determines immigrants‟ attitudes towards utilization health services and provides standard and psychometric characteristics.

Objectives: This study aims to develop a scale, “Determining the Attitudes of Immigrants towards Utilization Health Care Services” (DAIUHCS), considering the factors that affect their utilization health services and evaluate its validity and internal reliability.

Methods: This is a methodological study that evaluated the psychometric properties of the scale. Haphazard sampling, one of the non-probability sampling methods, was used. The data was collected from 416 immigrants. After the data was collected, the validity and reliability of the scale were evaluated through the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the internal reliability test (Cronbach's alpha).

Results: As a result of the PCA, the scale questions with an acceptable internal consistency level were grouped under four sub-dimensions. The DAIUHCS scale includes four sub-dimensions and 18 questions in its final version. The total Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.72.

Discussion: The scale was developed to determine and understand the attitudes of immigrants towards utilization health care services. It is suitable for the widespread use of nursing researchers working in the field of immigrant health. Conclusion: The scale was developed to determine and understand the attitudes of immigrants towards utilization health services and it is suitable for the widespread use of researchers working in the field of immigrant health.