title: The Development and Validation of the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale: Assessing the Interprofessional Attitudes of Students in the Health Professions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  No validated tools assess all four competency domains described in the 2011 report Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC Report). The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a tool based on the IPEC Report core competency domains that assesses the interprofessional attitudes of students in the health professions.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2012, an interprofessional team of students and two of the authors developed and administered a survey to students from four colleges and schools at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center (Health, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy). The authors randomly split the responses with complete data into two independent subsets: one for exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the other for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). They performed these analyses to validate the tool, eliminate redundant questions, and identify subscales. Their analyses focused on aligning tool subscales with the IPEC Report core competencies and demonstrating good construct validity and internal consistency reliability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1,549 students invited, 701 (45.3%) responded. The EFA produced a 27-item scale, with five subscales: teamwork, roles, and responsibilities; patient-centeredness; interprofessional biases; diversity and ethics; and community-centeredness (Cronbach alpha coefficients: 0.62 to 0.92). The CFA indicated that the content of the five subscales was consistent with the EFA model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (IPAS) is a novel tool that, compared with previous assessment instruments, better reflects current thinking about interprofessional competencies. IPAS should prove useful to health sciences institutions committed to training students to work collaboratively in interprofessional teams.
authors.affiliation: J. Norris is resident physician, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico.J.G. Carpenter is a PhD candidate, Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.J. Eaton is project director, Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, and adjunct instructor, College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.J.-W. Guo is assistant professor, College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.M. Lassche is instructor (clinical) and PhD candidate, College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.M.A. Pett is research professor, College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.D.K. Blumenthal is associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology and associate dean for interprofessional education and assessment, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: Joan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.forename: Jia-Wen
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Madeline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lassche
authors.forename: Marjorie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pett
authors.forename: Donald K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Blumenthal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006281:Health Occupations / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D013337:Students, Medical; D013338:Students, Nursing; D013339:Students, Pharmacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult