Validity Evidence for a Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process Self-Efficacy Scale Among Pharmacy Students

Objective. To further refine and examine the validity of an instrument for assessing pharmacy students' self-efficacy in implementing the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP) components.Methods. An instrument was developed and pilot tested in spring 2018 at one college of pharmacy. In spring 2019, a modified version of the instrument, the PPCP Self-Efficacy Scale (PPCP-SES), was administered to third professional year (P3) pharmacy students at seven institutions. Self-efficacy items were based on Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, and students were asked to rate each item on a continuous scale (0-100). Data analyses included descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).Results. Three hundred P3 students completed the PPCP-SES. The domain-specific Cronbach alpha coefficients were: collect, α=.89; assess, α=.92; plan, α=.95; implement, α=.96; and follow-up, α=.95. Based on the factor analysis results, three items were removed. Model fit statistics indicated the overall instrument had moderate goodness of fit.Conclusion. Results indicate the PPCP-SES demonstrated initial evidence of validity for use by pharmacy faculty members to identify students' self-efficacy related to implementing components of the PPCP. Future research is needed to examine validity evidence in other student populations and among practicing pharmacists.