A general teamwork measure’s use in interprofessional education: item response theory analysis

This short report aims to bring evidence from modern psychometric methods (item response theory; IRT) to bear on a general team measure (Teamwork Questionnaire; FAT) adopted specifically for interprofessional education (IPE). The FAT was administered to n = 160 mixed-health‑profession participants in a post-IPE questionnaire. IRT analyses examine the following three aspects of the FAT: 1) scale dimensionality, 2) subscale reliability, and 3) item bias. Firstly, findings support FAT overall reliability but fail to support subscale reliabilities. Secondly, findings indicate a strong, general factor underlying the FAT that supports unidimensional interpretations. Thirdly, item bias assessment indicated insubstantial differences across student and facilitator groups, supporting the retention of all FAT items in future IPE administrations. Taken together, we find sufficient evidence to support the FAT’s application within an IPE context, and future research should aim to inspect its responsivity (change) over time.