Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the Positive Health Behaviours Scale for clinical nurses: a cross-sectional translation

BACKGROUND: Occupational health is essential for nurses in clinical nursing practice. However, there is no specific tool for measuring the health behaviour of clinical nurses in China. This study aimed to translate the Positive Health Behaviours Scale into Chinese and validate its psychometric properties among clinical nurses. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design with repeated measures. METHODS: A total of 633 clinical nurses were recruited by convenience sampling from hospitals in Liaoning Province, China. After obtaining the authorization of the original author, the PHBS was translated into Chinese by the Brislin back-translation method. Item analysis was completed to evaluate item discrimination, and the Delphi method was adopted to analyse content validity. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to explore and validate the underlying factor structure. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were calculated to evaluate reliability. RESULTS: A total of 29 items were retained in the item analysis, and the content validity index of the translated scale was 0.956. In the EFA, four common factors were extracted (nutrition, physical activity, relaxation and behaviours related to mental health and preventive behaviours), explaining 60.81% of the total variance. The results of the CFA were as follows: χ(2)/df = 1.363, GFI = 0.902, NFI = 0.909, IFI = 0.974, TLI = 0.971, CFI = 0.974, RMSEA = 0.034, and RMR = 0.023. The results of the EFA and CFA showed that the translated scale had good structural validity. Cronbach’s α coefficient, the split-half reliability and the test-retest reliability of the Chinese version of the PHBS were 0.928, 0.953 and 0.891, respectively. At the same time, the translated scale had good reliability. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of the PHBS for clinical nurses had good psychometric properties. The results of the questionnaire survey effectively and comprehensively reflect the level of health behaviours in clinical nurses, which provides a scientific reference for determining the intervention target.