Reliability and validity of core competency scale in public health students in China

Objective To analyze the reliability and validity of the core competency scale of injury prevention in public health students in China, and to provide a reliable instrument for assessing injury prevention competency of public health professionals. Methods 1 183 postgraduates and final year undergraduates randomly selected from college of public health of 8 universities in the Northern, Southeastern, middle and southern China were investigated in the survey. The reliability and validity analysis was divided into three parts, including item analysis, reliability test and validity test. The item analysis employed homogeneity test and critical value test; The reliability test used Cronbach α coefficient test and test-retest reliability test; The validity test used confirmatory factor analysis for structural validity test. Results The correlation coefficient of the homogeneity test in the item analysis was between 0.58-0.82, and the scores of the 31 items were significantly different(P<0.01); The overall Cronbach α was 0.98, the Cronbach α interval of each dimension was 0.91-0.94, and the retest correlation coefficient of each dimension was between 0.71- 0.77, and the differences were significant(P<0.01); The results of confirmatory factor analysis of the structural validity test were χ2 /df = 3.89, GFI = 0.92, AGFI = 0.89, RMSEA= 0.05, CFI = 0.966, CN= 339. Conclusion The core competency scale for injury prevention in public health students in China are of high reliability and validity and can be an effective instrument to assess the competence for Injury prevention and control of students from public health major.