Validation study of the Polish version of the Evidence-Based Practice Profile Questionnaire

BACKGROUND: Decisions about patient care in clinical practice should be made based on proven scientific evidence of efficacy and safety (i.e., evidence-based practice [EBP]). Currently, there are no available tools in Poland for assessing the knowledge and attitudes of specialists in health sciences towards EBP. Therefore, by validating the Polish version of the original English Evidence-Based Practice Profile Questionnaire (EBP(2)Q), we may provide an appropriate instrument for assessing EBP. METHODS: The validation group consisted of 1,362 people, including nurses and midwives taking the specialization exam, second-degree students in nursing/midwifery, and staff of selected municipal and clinical hospitals in Warsaw, Pruszkow, and Chelm. The study was conducted from March to June 2014. The following psychometric properties of the EBP(2)Q were assessed: reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and test-retest), validity (exploratory factor analysis, Spearman’s r correlation coefficient, and assessment of inter-group differences), as well as unidimensionality of domains (principal component analysis). RESULTS: All domains of the EBP(2)Q were characterized by high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.800 to 0.972). The Polish version showed a strong similarity of factor structure with the original English EBP(2)Q, indicating that the condition for theoretical validity is fulfilled. Maintenance of the theoretical and discriminative validity and unidimensionality of five domains of the EBP(2)Q was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the EBP(2)Q is comparable in terms of psychometry to the original English version. This questionnaire can be used to assess knowledge, attitudes, and skills concerning EBP among students and practicing professional nurses and midwives. The future validation of the EBP(2)Q in other groups of specialists in health sciences may increase the scope of applicability of this tool. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-017-0877-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.