title: The Self-assessment for Organizational Capacity Instrument for evidence-informed health policy: preliminary reliability and validity of an instrument.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health policymakers work in organizations that involve multiple competing demands and limited time to make decisions. Influential international policy organizations continue to publish guidance and recommendations without the use of high-quality research evidence. Few studies have described the process with which governments, including health ministries, use evidence to support health policymaking decisions. Research is needed to better understand the psychometric properties of instruments that assess health policy organizations' capacity to use research evidence.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to assess the preliminary psychometric properties of an instrument which assesses organizational capacity for evidence use.
  
  
  METHODS
  The instrument was administered by telephone survey from January to June 2011 using a purposeful sample of 57 Canadian health policymakers (policy analyst and senior management levels). Reliability of the instrument was assessed with Cronbach's α coefficient and item-to-total correlation for internal consistency; interitem coefficients were used to identify particular item redundancy. Discriminant validity was assessed using the known-group comparison approach, with the independent sample t-test to assess subscale responses of policy analysts and senior managers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cronbach's α indicated acceptable internal consistency across its subscales. Discriminant validity analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between policy analysts and senior managers for one subscale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study provides a first look at the Self-assessment for Organizational Capacity Instrument's psychometric properties and demonstrates that this instrument can be useful when evaluating government and other organizations' use of evidence to inform decision making. Further testing of this instrument is needed using large and varied samples of policymakers, from policy analysts to senior managers, across varied policymaking contexts. This instrument can be a starting point for government and related organizations to better understand how well it supports evidence use, including its acquisition, appraisal, and use in health policy decision making.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Catallo
authors.forename: Souraya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sidani
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D057191:Capacity Building / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000592:standards*; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment
keywords: evidence-informed policy; health policy; instrument validation; organizational capacity; policymakers; reliability; validity