Development and Validation of the Competency Evaluation Model for Hospital Infection Prevention and Control Practitioners in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Mixed Methods Study (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background This study was undertaken to determine the practitioners' competence in relation to the hospital infection prevention and control measures that is significant for their professional development as well as to ascertain their role in the prevention and control activities against nosocomial infection. During the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, the hospital infection management has become crucial, which has necessitated the urgency of developing a competency model for healthcare practitioners to combat public health emergencies.Method: On the basis of literature review, the key informant interviews, the Delphi method and the questionnaire survey, a theoretical framework and an assessment tool consisting of 26 items were developed. These items were evaluated based on response rate, maximum score, minimum score, and mean score. Factor analyses, both exploratory and confirmatory, were used to determine the structure of the competence model. Measurement invariance of the instruments was determined to ensure that the variables used for the analyses were of similar constructs across the study groups.Results The effective response rate on the questionnaires was 88.29%, and the Cronbach's α-coefficient of the scale was 0.964. Factor analysis revealed a KMO of 0.945. The Bartlett's test gave an χ² of 10523.439 (df = 435; p < 0.001). After exploratory factor analysis, the 5-factor model was retained, 4 items were deleted, and a 5-dimensional, 26-item scale was obtained. The new structure's confirmatory factor analysis revealed a high goodness of fit (CFI = 0.933; TLI = 0.925; SRMSR = 0.053; and RMSEA = 0.040). The difference between the indexes of the 2 regions was significant at < 0.1, which confirmed measurement invariance across the regions.Conclusion The scale was found to be highly reliable, valid, and credible. Therefore, it can serve as an effective tool for assessing the competencies of hospital infection prevention and control practitioners.