Validity and Reliability of the “Self-Assessment of Informatics Competency Scale for Health Professionals”: A Methodological Study

Abstract

Objective: The current methodological research aimed to translate and adapt the Self-Assessment of Informatics Competency Scale for Health Professionals (SANICS) for use in Türkiye. The SANICS was initially created to evaluate health workers’ self-efficacy in terms of informatics. In addition, the research aimed to analyze the validity and reliability of the Turkish SANICS. Methods: This research was performed with 113 nurse educators in 11 undergraduate nursing programs during the 2022-2023 academic year in Ankara. The SANICS is a 5-point Likert scale comprising 18 questions with 3 sub-dimensions. Expert opinions confirmed the scale's linguistic validity, and 8 experts confirmed its scope validity. Minor corrections were made when needed. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the construct validity. Results: The Turkish scale protected 3 sub-dimensions and 73.28% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that model fit indexes show acceptable fit. Cronbach’s α value for all scales was 0.92, and ranged between 0.86 and 0.91 for sub-dimensions. Spearman–Brown coefficient was found to be 0.865, and the correlation between the 2 halves in the test-retest analysis was 0.844. The lowest average score was seen in the applied computer skills subscale (2.10 ± 0.94), and the highest average score was seen in the basic computer skills subscale (3.22 ± 0.76). Conclusion: Current research shows that the Turkish adaptation of SÇ-BYÖDÖ is a valid and reliable tool. This scale suggests a practical method to assess informatics self-efficacy among health workers and may, in the future, significantly contribute to the development of digital competency in Türkiye’s health system.