Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Professional Fulfillment Index among healthcare professionals: A validation study

Objectives

Translation of the Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) into Japanese would be more useful than the currently developed scales for appropriately measuring burnout and professional fulfillment in healthcare professionals. This study aimed to develop the Japanese version of the PFI and examine its internal consistency, structural validity, and convergent validity in healthcare professionals.

Methods

Healthcare professionals in Japan were recruited online. The survey was conducted from October to November 2022. Internal consistency was tested using Cronbach's α. Structural validity was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Convergent validity was tested using Pearson's correlation coefficients, which were calculated between each score of the PFI scale and burnout (the Japanese Burnout Scale: JBS), depressive symptoms (the Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and QOL (the General Health Questionnaire-12).

Results

The Cronbach's alpha was .91 in professional fulfillment, .80 in burnout: work exhaustion, .90 in burnout: interpersonal disengagement, and .89 in burnout: total score. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a modest fit, and EFA yielded a three-factor structure the same as the original PFI. The all three subscales and total score of burnout were significantly correlated with the scores of all the scales (p < .001; e.g., burnout: work exhaustion correlated emotional exhaustion in JBS, r = .71).

Conclusions

The Japanese version of the PFI demonstrated acceptable high internal consistency, structural validity, and convergent validity of the scale with a three-factor structure the same as in the original PFI. The Japanese version of PFI proved to be reliable and valid for use in healthcare professionals.