Psychometric Evaluation of the Chinese Version of the Knowledge and Beliefs About Pain in Elderly Patients With Dementia Questionnaire

BACKGROUND: The quality of pain management in hospitalized older adult patients with dementia is a crucial issue in healthcare. The knowledge and beliefs of nurses are known to predict their pain management intentions toward this particularly vulnerable patient population. PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Knowledge and Beliefs About Pain in Elderly Patients With Dementia (KBPED-C) questionnaire using a sample of hospital nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The 17-item KBPED-C was distributed between September 2013 and August 2014 to 350 nurses working at a hospital in northern Taiwan. Consistency assessment was conducted using Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity was examined using principal component analysis. Three hundred five nurses (19 men and 286 women) were enrolled using convenience sampling. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 30.8 ± 5.8 years. The Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was .86. The item-total correlation was acceptable. The observed content validity was strong, with a content validity index of .86. Construct validity testing revealed a four-factor structure that accounted for 55.2% of the total variance. The four factors of the KBPED-C questionnaire were "general beliefs about pain and aging," "pain management in the workplace," "knowledge about pain management in older adult patients with dementia," and "beliefs about pain in older people." CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This preliminary validation study showed the high acceptability, reliability, and validity of the KBPED-C for hospital nurses. Future studies may use this questionnaire to explore the beliefs and knowledge of nurses regarding pain in older adult patients with dementia.