Development and validation of the PACPN: Parents' Attitudes Towards Crying Pediatricians and pediatric Nurses questionnaire.

Abstract

Crying by healthcare professionals in the medical setting is a common but understudied phenomenon. We aimed to develop a questionnaire which measures the attitudes of parent towards crying pediatricians and pediatric nurses. We assessed reliability and validity in a group of parents of children who are living with, have died from or survived a life-limiting or life-threatening-condition. The development of the PACPN was based on modification of an existing questionnaire and expert input. In a cross-sectional-design, we assessed reliability and validity for both pediatricians and pediatric nurses. Dimensionality was assessed using principal component analysis (PCA). Cronbach's alphas were calculated for each subscale. For construct validity, participants were asked to rate an additional question regarding the goal to measure parents' attitudes towards crying pediatricians/pediatric nurses. We hypothesized that a higher score would have a strong positive correlation with the total score of the PACPN. At the end of the questionnaire, participants were asked to rate and comment the completeness. The developed 25-item questionnaire was completed by 116 parents. The PCA revealed two dimensions: (1) family's circumstances; (2) personal circumstances of the pediatrician/pediatric nurse. Internal consistency was good (pediatricians, .81-.93; pediatric nurses, .83-.93). The hypothesis regarding construct validity was confirmed (Spearman's rho = .71-.75). The completeness score was 7.7 (min-max 1-10, SD = 1.51).

Conclusion: The PACPN showed good internal consistency and some degree of construct validity. We assume that by adding some items with nuance to the situation and the degree of crying the completeness of the questionnaire will improve.

What is known: • Crying by HCPs in the medical setting, such as the hospital is common but HCPs have different attitudes towards this. • A questionnaire on crying physicians and nurses is available for assessing HCPs attitudes.

What is new: • The PACPN questionnaire is a simple tool for assessing parents' attitudes towards crying pediatricians and pediatric nurses. • The PACPN showed good internal consistency and some degree of construct validity.