DEVELOPMENT, CONTENT VALIDITY, AND SCALE RELIABILITY OF THE PHYSICAL THERAPY SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH SCALE (PT-SDHS)

This study describes the development, content validity, and reliability of the Physical Therapy Social Determinants of Health Scale (PT-SDHS). Addressing inequities is critical for providing effective clinical care and improving population health. Currently, no tool exists to assess Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students’ education or competence with social determinants of health (SDOH). The Association for Medical Education in Europe best practices for developing questionnaires for educational research guided development. The PT-SDHS showed high item and scale content validity after expert validation. Factor analysis of 254 DPT student responses revealed five content domains (Knowledge, Attitudes, Personal Barriers, Professional Preparation, and Beliefs About Others) and 27 accepted items. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.70 (satisfactory) to 0.96 (excellent). The PT-SDHS is the first psychometrically valid and reliable instrument related to educating DPT students on five SDOH domains. This tool could aid development and assessment of SDOH educational interventions for healthcare students. (Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Rupal Patel) Supported by TWU Center for Student Research.