Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation of the Arabic Version of the NURS-DIAL Questionnaire Among Nursing Students in Saudi Arabia: Cross-Sectional Study

Background The rapid progress in digital transformation and the increasing reliance on AI in health care have created an urgent need for validated assessments of digital and AI literacy among nursing students. However, there is a substantial gap in culturally adapted assessment tools for Arabic-speaking populations. Objective This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and conduct a preliminary psychometric evaluation of the Arabic version of the Nursing Digital and AI Literacy Assessment (NURS-DIAL). Methods This cross-sectional study evaluated the Arabic-translated and culturally adapted version of the NURS-DIAL. The psychometric evaluation included content validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using diagonally weighted least squares estimation, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and known-groups validity. Given the complexity of the 52-item, 5-factor NURS-DIAL model and the limited sample size, the CFA findings should be interpreted as preliminary. Results Content validity was strong, with item-level content validity indices ranging from 0.83 to 1.00 and a scale-level content validity index average of 0.94. CFA provided preliminary support for a 52-item, 5-factor model after removing 4 items. Model fit indices were as follows: comparative fit index was 0.930, Tucker-Lewis index was 0.926, root mean square error of approximation was 0.055, standardized root mean square residual was 0.103, and goodness-of-fit index was 0.947. The internal consistency estimates ranged from 0.856 to 0.919. Selected known-group comparisons also provided preliminary validity evidence. Conclusions The NURS-DIAL demonstrated preliminary evidence of content validity, structural validity, internal consistency reliability, and construct validity among nursing students at 1 university in Saudi Arabia. Because of the limited sample size and single-institution setting, the tool should currently be used for exploratory research and formative assessment in similar settings. Larger multi-institutional studies are needed to confirm its factor structure and broader applicability.