title: Test-retest reliability of the VA National Center for Patient Safety culture questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patient safety culture may have a significant influence on safety processes and outcomes. Therefore, it is important to have valid tools to measure patient safety culture in order to identify potential levers for cultural change that could improve patient safety. The 65-item Department of Veterans Affairs Patient Safety Culture Survey (VA PSCS) consists of 14 dimensions and is administered biannually to VA employees. Test-retest reliability of the VA PSCS has not been established.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted repeated administrations of the VA PSCS among 28 VA employees. We measured intraclass correlation coefficients for each item and dimension.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient values were 0.7 or greater for 13 out of 14 dimensions of the VA PSCS. Employees had difficulty reliably reporting how others feel about patient safety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In general, the VA PSCS survey showed adequate test-retest reliability. Items asking what others think or feel showed lower reliability. Further work is needed to better understand the relationship between safety culture, safety processes and safety outcomes.
authors.affiliation: White River Junction VA Medical Center, White River Junction, USA.|Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shiner
authors.affiliation: White River Junction VA Medical Center, White River Junction, USA.|Valley Medical Group, Greenfield, USA.
authors.forename: Julia M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ronconi
authors.affiliation: VA National Center for Patient Safety, Ann Arbor, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McKnight
authors.affiliation: VA National Center for Patient Safety, Ann Arbor, USA.|Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, USA.
authors.forename: Yinong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Young-Xu
authors.affiliation: VA National Center for Patient Safety, Ann Arbor, USA.|Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, USA.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: VA National Center for Patient Safety, Ann Arbor, USA.|Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, USA.
authors.forename: Bradley V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Watts
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015279:Organizational Culture; D061214:Patient Safety; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs
keywords: clinical safety; evaluation; health care