Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Chinese version of self-efficacy and attitudes for providing Mouth Care scale

by Lan Chen, Liyan Gu, Xianchen Li, Wenyao Chen, Lingjuan Zhang

In recent years, oral care for older people has received extensive attention in long-term care facilities. The Self-Efficacy for Providing Mouth Care (SE-PMC) and Attitudes for Providing Mouth Care (A-PMC) scale evaluated the self-efficacy and attitude of nursing staff while providing oral care. However, whether this scale is valid and reliable for Chinese nursing staff in China remains unverified. This study aims to translate the English version of SE-PMC and A-PMC into Chinese and determine their reliability and validity.

After obtaining the author’s consent, the procedure for a double-back translation and cross-cultural adaptation was conducted to develop the Chinese version of SE-PMC and A-PMC. The validity and reliability of the Chinese version of SE-PMC and A-PMC were evaluated in a cross-sectional observational study with 852 nurses from 42 Geriatric Care Facilities (GCFs). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n = 427) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n = 425) were conducted to test the construct validity and quality of the factor structures. We applied the item discrimination test and homogeneity test for item analysis. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and split-half coefficient were adopted to evaluate internal consistency.

The Chinese version of SE-PMC (11 items, 3 factors) and A-PMC (11 items, 2 factors) included 22 items, reflecting adequate construct validity and reliability. In addition, test-retest reliability was 0.809 for SE-PMC and 0.811 for A-PMC, evincing good stability. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of SE-PMC was 0.831, with each factor ranging from 0.793~0.906. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the A-PMC was 0.768, with each factor ranging from 0.814~0.824. Item-Content Validity Index (I-CVI) of SE-PMC and A-PMC ranged from 0.84 ~1.00 and 0.82~1.00, respectively.

The Chinese version of SE-PMC and A-PMC was validated as a reliable assessment tool to evaluate the self-efficacy and attitude of nursing staff in GCFs for providing oral care in China.