Development and Validation of a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Knowledge Test

To facilitate evaluation of the education component of pulmonary rehabilitation programs, the authors developed and validated a knowledge test covering the content areas identified as common to programs nationwide. Procedures were divided into five stages: item construction, item testing, test validation, program evaluation, and cross testing of the final form. Results from 27 programs demonstrated an improvement from pretest and posttest scores (F(1,57) = 58.44, P = 0.000) and from posttest and the 3-month follow-up (F(2,57) = 9.99, P = 0.003). The final form of the test has high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). Development of further educational evaluative instruments specific to pulmonary rehabilitation programs is recommended.