A comparison of two scales for assessing health professional students’ attitude toward interprofessional learning

Abstract

RationaleThe validated 19-item Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) is often used for assessing attitudes toward interprofessional education (IPE). The 12-item Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS), also used for this purpose, has not been validated among the professions of medicine, pharmacy, and physician assistants (PAs). The discriminatory ability of the two scales has not been directly compared. Comparison of the two will aid educators in selecting the optimal scale.ObjectiveTo compare psychometric properties of the RIPLS and IEPS and to examine the ability of each scale to discriminate mean scores among student subgroups (gender, profession, seniority, and prior IPE exposure).MethodWe conducted a cross-sectional (Qualtrics©) survey (RIPLS and IEPS) of junior and senior students in medicine (n=360), pharmacy (n=360), and the PA profession (n=106). Descriptive statistics were used to report aggregate mean scores of subgroups. The internal consistency of each scale was assessed using Cronbach's α. Concurrent validity was measured by Pearson's correlation coefficients. Independent-sample t-tests and analysis of variances (ANOVAs) were performed to assess the discriminatory ability of each scale. Cohen's d effect sizes were calculated for all significant pair-wise comparisons.ResultsResponse rate was 82%. Cronbach's α was 0.85 (RIPLS) and 0.91 (IEPS). The RIPLS discriminated scores by gender among junior students only, and scores by IPE exposure among all students. The IEPS distinguished score differences for the three professions among junior students and by prior IPE exposure for all three professions. Neither scale detected differences in mean scores by profession among all students or by level of training among the three professions.ConclusionsNeither the RIPLS nor the IEPS has greater discriminatory ability for detecting attitude differences among the student subgroups. Reason for differences may be explained by slightly different scale constructs. The RIPLS is designed to assess students’ own attitude toward interprofessional learning, while the IEPS discerns perceived attitudes about team collaboration for students’ own professions and may be more appropriate for more advanced students.

Getting it Right from the Start: An Interprofessional Orientation Experience for Graduate Health Sciences Students, Evaluating Attitudes toward Role

“…Whether a student has a positive or a negative attitude prior to engaging in IPE activities, participation seems to positively impact those attitudes [5] [6]. Further, students who had prior exposure to IPE had a more positive attitude toward it than those who were being exposed for the first time [7]. Taken together, these findings suggest that the more exposure healthcare students have to IPE, the more positively their attitudes are impacted.…”

“…Research suggests that including interprofessional opportunities within an educational curriculum can result in positive changes in student attitudes about IPE and collaborative practice [5] [7]. However, the amount of time needed to affect student attitudes about interprofessional learning is unclear [12].…”

Interprofessional learning in residential aged care: providing optimal care for residents

“…Although several studies focus on the student experience and attitudes towards interprofessional learning across many aged care facilities (Ponzer et al 2004;Hertweck et al 2012;Lie et al 2013;Lucas et al 2013aLucas et al , 2013b, there is very limited evidence around the perceived benefits and barriers to the residents and staff involved in interprofessional programs.…”

Indonesian students’ participation in an interprofessional learning workshop

“…This was a quasiexperimental study to identify whether participation in an IPL workshop could influence health students' attitudes towards IPE. The RIPLS survey was chosen as it has been validated for eight health professions, including medicine, nursing and pharmacy (Lie, Fung, Trial, & Lohenry, 2013).…”