Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Patient Engagement in Health Care Questionnaire

Background: Patient engagement in health care can contribute to improving care quality and safety. A valid measurement is essential for promoting it. Purpose: The purpose was to develop the Patient Engagement in Health Care Questionnaire and test its psychometric properties. Methods: An item pool was generated based on a literature review and qualitative research, and was reviewed by 2 expert panels. Two rounds of survey, with 364 and 433 patients, respectively, were conducted to evaluate psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Results: The questionnaire consists of 33 items. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 6-factor model, explaining 67.16% of the variance, which included communication and information exchange, engaging in treatment and care, engaging in decision-making, giving feedback about care quality, monitoring care safety, and choosing health care providers. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the 6-factor model fit the data well. The scale-level content validity index, Cronbach α, and test-retest reliability were 0.935, 0.928, 0.882, respectively. Conclusions: The Patient Engagement in Health Care Questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool to assess patient engagement.