Knowledge Questionnaire on Home Care of Schizophrenics (KQHS): Validity and Reliability.

Abstract

The number of questionnaires developed by nurses has increased in recent years. While the rigor applied to the questionnaire development process may be improving, there is a need for those who develop questionnaires to be skillful. This paper reports the process of development of a Knowledge Questionnaire on Home care of Schizophrenics (KQHS) which is a part of a larger study. The KQHS is developed with an aim to determine the knowledge of primary caregivers on home care of schizophrenic patients. It is a self-administered 32 item multiple choice questionnaire that quantifies four aspects of home care, i.e, meaning, cause, signs and symptoms of schizophrenia and care of schizophrenics. Review of literature, preparation of blueprint, development of the items, validity, pretesting and reliability were the steps used in the process of its development. After establishing the content validity, the KQHS was pretested. Split half technique (odd-even) was used to determine coefficient correlation using Karl Pearson formula, following which the Spearman’s Brown Prophecy formula was used for establishing the reliability r ₍₂₀₎ =0.92.  Item analysis was computed to assess performance of individual question and it revealed overall good results with value for item difficulty ranging from 20 to 80 percentage and item discrimination index of above 0.2. The KQHS is a brief and simple-to-use instrument, which is valid and reliable. It is suitable for assessing the knowledge on home care of schizophrenic patients among primary caregivers.

Keywords: Knowledge Questionnaire, Item analysis, Validity, Reliability, Caregivers, Schizophrenia, Homecare.