title: Confirmatory factor analysis of the German Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS-D).
abstract: Over the past five years, the development of interprofessional education programmes has been gaining momentum in Germany fostering the need to evaluate these with appropriate instruments. Instead of developing a new instrument for evaluation purposes, the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) was chosen, as it is a widespread instrument that has been used in a variety of different educational settings and countries. The German version of the RIPLS was administered in two sites to health professional students in Heidelberg and Freiburg, Germany. Cronbach's alpha was used to examine internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed for confirmation of the underlying factor structure of the RIPLS-D. In total, 531 questionnaires were analysed. The instrument showed overall reliability (0.81) and low reliability (< 0.7) in the subscales. The underlying factor structure could not be confirmed. These results contribute further evidence on deficits with the RIPLS. Despite known issues, the RIPLS continues to be translated and applied. This paper highlights the problematic issues in the RIPLS-D and does not recommend its use.
authors.affiliation: a General Practice and Health Services Research , University Hospital Heidelberg , Heidelberg , Germany.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mahler
authors.affiliation: b Medical Faculty, Centre of Competence for the Evaluation of Medical Education , Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg , Freiburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giesler
authors.affiliation: c Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics , University Hospital Heidelberg , Heidelberg , Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stock
authors.affiliation: c Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics , University Hospital Heidelberg , Heidelberg , Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krisam
authors.affiliation: d Department of Computer Science, Therapeutic Sciences , Trier University of Applied Sciences , Trier , Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karstens
authors.affiliation: a General Practice and Health Services Research , University Hospital Heidelberg , Heidelberg , Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szecsenyi
authors.affiliation: a General Practice and Health Services Research , University Hospital Heidelberg , Heidelberg , Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krug
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; RIPLS; interprofessional education; interprofessional evaluation; statistics