Cross-cultural Adaptation, Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of the Health Professionals Communication Skills Scale.

Mendi, Onur; Yildirim, Nurdan; Mendi, Basak

PURPOSE The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Health Professionals Communication Skills Scale (HP-CSS). METHODS The HP-CSS was translated into Turkish following an international instrument translation guideline. A convenience sample of 394 health professionals participated in this study. Internal consistency reliability, content validity, test-retest reliability and convergent validity were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the construct validity. RESULTS The Turkish version of HP-CSS comprised four factors (empathy, informative communication, respect and social skill). The HP-CSS-TR demonstrated adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's values 0.72-0.79). In terms of the content validity, the scale-level CVI was 0.94, and the item-level CVI ranged from 0.83 to 1.00. The HPCSS- TR showed good test-retest reliability (ICCs were above 0.82). No statistically significant difference was found between the applications. There was a good agreement between the HP-CSS-TR and CSI scales. Confirmatory factor analysis results (ײ/df, GFI, AGFI, IFI, TLI, CFI, RMSEA and SRMR) showed a good fit for the original 4-factor model. CONCLUSIONS Results showed that the Turkish version of the HP-CSS is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of communication skills of health professionals in Turkey. The use of the HP-CSS-TR measure in clinical settings could be useful in enhancing the quality of care by identifying inadequacies and improving communication skills.