Turkish validity and reliability study of evidence-based practice beliefs scale and evidence-based practice implementation scale

This study was conducted with a methodological design to evaluate the Turkish validity and reliability of the scales developed by the Fuld National Institute for Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) to assessing beliefs about the value of EBP (EBP Beliefs Scale) and the frequency of its implementation (EBP Implementation Scale), which were translated into Turkish as the "Kanıta Dayalı Uygulama İnançları Ölçeği (KDUİÖ)" and the "Kanıta Dayalı Uygulama Kullanımı Ölçeği (KDUKÖ)". The population of the study consisted of 984 nurses working at two campuses affiliated with Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital in Istanbul between July 2023 and May 2024. The sample comprised 215 nurses who voluntarily participated in the study and worked as staff nurses or charge nurses in intensive care units and other inpatient wards. Data for the study were collected using the Nurse İnformation Form, the Evidence-Based Nursing Attitude Questionnaire (EBNAQ-TR), the EBP Beliefs Scale TR, and the EBP Implementation Scale TR. To assess the reliability of the scales, test-retest and item-total correlation analyses were conducted. To evaluate their validity, analyses of linguistic validity, content validity, construct validity, and criterion validity were performed. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 24 software. The guidelines provided by the Fuld National Institute for EBP were utilized to establish the linguistic validity of the scales. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the Turkish versions of the EBP Beliefs Scale TR and EBP Implementation Scale TR Scales were found to be 0.91 and 0.96, respectively. No significant difference was found between the test and retest mean scores for both scales (p>0.05). The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) results confirmed that both scales have a unidimensional structure. In testing the criterion validity, a significant and positive correlation was found between the EBNAQ (TR) and the EBP Beliefs Scale TR (p<0.001). The mean total scores of the scales were 59.04±8.21 for the EBP Beliefs Scale TR and 19.06±14.97 for the EBP Implementation Scale TR. In the study, a significant positive correlation between the EBP Beliefs and EBP Implementation scales was identified (p<0,001). As a result, it was determined that the EBP Beliefs Scale TR is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing beliefs about the value of EBP and ability to implement it, and the EBP Implementation Scale TR is a valid and reliable instrument for determining the level of EBP implementation among nurses in Turkey. It may be recommended to analyze the scales in a different sample group and to analyze the predictive validity of the EBP Beliefs Scale TR to assess whether beliefs about EBP are effective in predicting the level of EBP Implementation Scale TR Keywords: evidence-based practice, nursing, reliability, validity