Psychometric evaluation of the Spanish version of the physiotherapy critical thinking in clinical practice questionnaire

Objective The aim was to adapt and validate the Nursing Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice Questionnaire of 109 items in four dimensions, for its application in physiotherapists in Spain. Design Descriptive, cross-sectional, multicenter psychometric study carried out in two phases: phase 1, adaptation of the Nursing Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice Questionnaire to the physiotherapy setting and analysis of its content validity; phase 2, evaluation of the psychometric properties of the new instrument. Setting Physiotherapists from a variety of work environments (public and private hospitals, geriatric institutions, home care services, clinics, and primary care, social health, educational and sports centers). Participants A sample of 235 physiotherapists participated, of whom 108 completed the questionnaire for a second time after a two-week interval. Main measures Construct validity was analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, convergent validity and discriminant validity; reliability was analyzed using internal consistency and temporal stability (test-retest method). Results The Average Scale Content Validity Index of 0.96 indicated high content validity. Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed the four-dimensional structure on which the original questionnaire is based, with acceptable model fit indices. Cronbach's alpha for the total questionnaire was 0.97, reaching values above 0.70 in each of the dimensions. Lin's Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was 0.71. Conclusions The Physiotherapy Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice Questionnaire showed appropriate psychometric properties. Its use among Spanish physiotherapists is recommended. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05059483. URL https://clinicaltrials.gov