Application of analytic hierarchy process in establishing the indices for assessing core competencies of public health students for injury prevention

Objective To determine the framework and weights of indexes for assessing core competencies of public health students for injury prevention,and to establish a set of systematic indices for evaluating core campetencies of public health students for injury prevention.Methods A total of twenty-two experts in the field of injury prevention at home and abroad were invited to participate in 2-round Delphi process.The indices were selected in accordance with the result of each consultation.Then the weights of the final indexes were determined with analytic hierarchy process(AHP).Results According to Delphi expert consultation results,the final evaluation indexes included 5 first-level indicators and 31 second-level indicators.The first-level indicators' weights and the corresponding second-level indicators' weights were obtained by AHP.And the weights of the first-level indicators were as follows:the weight of "the ability to analyze and evaluate injury problems" was 0.298,the weight of "the ability to plan and implement injury prevention programs" was 0.237,the weight of "communication competence" was 0.199,the weight of "the ability to practice in community" was 0.169,and the weight of "leadership and systematic thinking ability" was 0.097.The weights of top five second-level indicators were as follows:the weight of "ability to describe what factors can lead to injury" was 0.051,the weight of "ability to access,collect,analyze,use and disseminate injury data and information" was 0.046,the weight of "ability to implement injury prevention measures and activity" was 0.044,the weight of "ablity to effectively disseminate injury prevention information to the community,key policy makers and other proficiency" was 0.044,and the weight of "ability to develop injury prevention program goals and objectives" was 0.041.Conclusion In terms of establishing a set of systematic indices for evaluating core competencies of public health students for injury prevention,the evaluation indices and their weights are objective and credible,which can be used to establish scientific injury prevention courses and corresponding curriculum assessment mechanism.