Objective: A steady increase in the number of patients requiring end-of-life care has been observed during the last decades. The assessment of healthcare students' attitudes toward end-of-life care is an important step in their curriculum, as it provides information about their disposition to practice palliative medicine. The Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD-B) was developed to detect such a disposition, but its psychometric properties are yet to be clearly defined. Method: A convenience sample of 608 second-year medical students participated in our study in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 academic years. All participants completed the FATCOD-B. The sample was randomly divided in two subsamples. In the item analysis, reliability (Cronbach's α), internal consistency (item-total correlations), and an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were conducted using the first subsample (n = 300). Using the second subsample (n = 308), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using the robust ML method in the Lisrel program. Results: Reliability for all items was 0.699. Item-total correlations, ranging from 0.03 to 0.39, were weak. EFA identified a two-dimensional orthogonal solution, explaining 20% of total variance. CFA upheld the two-dimensional model, but the loadings on the dimensions and their respective indicators were weak and equal to zero for certain items. Significance of Results: The findings of the present study suggest that the FATCOD-B measures a two-dimensional construct and that several items seem in need of revision. Future research oriented toward building a revised version of the scale should pay attention to item ambiguity and take particular care to distinguish among items that concern emotions and beliefs related to end-of-life care, as well as their subjects (e.g., the healthcare provider, the patient, his family).

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD-B) among Italian medical students

LEOMBRUNI, Paolo
First
;
LOERA, Barbara Lucia;Marco Miniotti;ZIZZI, FRANCESCA;CASTELLI, Lorys;TORTA, Riccardo
2015-01-01

Abstract

Objective: A steady increase in the number of patients requiring end-of-life care has been observed during the last decades. The assessment of healthcare students' attitudes toward end-of-life care is an important step in their curriculum, as it provides information about their disposition to practice palliative medicine. The Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD-B) was developed to detect such a disposition, but its psychometric properties are yet to be clearly defined. Method: A convenience sample of 608 second-year medical students participated in our study in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 academic years. All participants completed the FATCOD-B. The sample was randomly divided in two subsamples. In the item analysis, reliability (Cronbach's α), internal consistency (item-total correlations), and an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were conducted using the first subsample (n = 300). Using the second subsample (n = 308), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using the robust ML method in the Lisrel program. Results: Reliability for all items was 0.699. Item-total correlations, ranging from 0.03 to 0.39, were weak. EFA identified a two-dimensional orthogonal solution, explaining 20% of total variance. CFA upheld the two-dimensional model, but the loadings on the dimensions and their respective indicators were weak and equal to zero for certain items. Significance of Results: The findings of the present study suggest that the FATCOD-B measures a two-dimensional construct and that several items seem in need of revision. Future research oriented toward building a revised version of the scale should pay attention to item ambiguity and take particular care to distinguish among items that concern emotions and beliefs related to end-of-life care, as well as their subjects (e.g., the healthcare provider, the patient, his family).
2015
1
8
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PAX
FATCOD–B, Attitudes toward the dying, Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Item validity, Medical students
Paolo Leombruni; Barbara Loera; Marco Miniotti; Francesca Zizzi; Lorys Castelli; Riccardo Torta
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Revised Manuscript Leombruni-Loera P&SC_4aperto.pdf

Accesso aperto

Tipo di file: POSTPRINT (VERSIONE FINALE DELL’AUTORE)
Dimensione 285.39 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
285.39 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
loera2015confirmatory.pdf

Accesso riservato

Tipo di file: PDF EDITORIALE
Dimensione 4.48 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
4.48 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1508580
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 2
  • Scopus 8
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 7
social impact