Development And Application Of Rating Scale On Job Competency For Preventive Medicine Graduate

ObjectiveBased on job competency,this study aims to develop rating scale on job competency for preventive medicine graduate and test the reliability and validity of the scale.For the application of this scale,the present study will determine the impact of general self-efficacy and social desirability on the job competency of public health practitioners.Methods1.Scale development:Based on the theory of competency and expert consultation,the analysis for the connotation and structure of preventive medicine professionals’competency,and the practical characteristics of Chinese public health work,a preliminary version of"rating scale for preventive medicine graduate"had been developed.Delphi method was used to assess and improve the scale so as to make it sufficiently suitable for Chinese national conditions.2.Scale evaluation:A total of 246 public health practitioners in Anhui Province were selected and evaluated by their leaders through the scale.The reliability and validity of the scale were evaluated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient,split-half reliability coefficient and empirical validity.Forty-three graduates from preventive medicine were selected to test the retest reliability one week after the first-round questionnaire survey.3.Scale application:A total of 223 public health practitioners in Jiangsu province were selected as the participants.General self-efficacy scale(GSES)and Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale(MCSD)and other demographic information were collected to understand the impact of social desirability and general self-efficacy on the job competency of public health practitioners.4.Data analysis:EpiData 3.1 was used for data input,and Excel 2013 and SPSS16.0 were used to data analysis.To evaluate the reliability of the scale,Cronbach’s alpha coefficient,split-half coefficient and retest coefficient were calculated.To assess the structural validity of the scale,KMO and Bartlett spherical tests were performed on all the items,and the principal component analysis was conducted using the maximum variance method.By using the binary logistic regression models,the association between different professional positions and posts and job competency scores was analyzed.Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationships between general self-efficacy,social desirability and job competency.Binary logistic regression was used to assess the effects of general self-efficacy,social desirability and their interaction on the four dimensions and total scores of job competency.Results1.The study finally formed rating scale on job competency for preventive medicine graduate,covering four first-level indicators,12 secondary indicators and 55tertiary indicators.The first-level indicators were professionalism,professional value,social humanities,trait and efficacy.The professionalism included four secondary indicators,medical foundation,disease prevention,health promotion and health emergency and,and the weights were 0.217,0.258,0.249 and 0.276,respectively.The professional value included three secondary indicators,professional attitudes,professional behaviors and professional ideal,and the weights were 0.336,0.336,and0.328,respectively.The social humanities included three secondary indicators,communication,management,and cultural identity,and the weights were 0.357,0.323,and 0.320,respectively.The trait and efficacy included two secondary indicators which were personal traits and personal performance,and the weights were 0.503 and 0.497,respectively.2.The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.979,and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the four primary indicators were 0.951,0.947,0.958and 0.912,respectively.The overall split-half coefficient was 0.909,and the split-half coefficients of the four first-level indicators were 0.891,0.845,0.893,and 0.825,respectively.The overall retest coefficient was 0.760,and the retest coefficients of the four first-level indicators were 0.744,0.669,0.704,and 0.722,respectively.When KMO and Bartlett spherical tests were performed on the scale,the KMO value was 0.951(P<0.001)and theχ~2 value=15 159.54(P<0.001).The homogeneity reliability,test-retest reliability,structural validity,and the internal consistency of the scale were acceptable.3.The total scores and scores of professionalism of participants major in preventive medicine were higher than those major in preventive medicine related fields and other fields.The score of professional value was higher in participants major in preventive medicine than those major in preventive medicine related fields,and the score of social humanities s was higher than those major in other fields(P<0.05).The total scores and the scores of four first-level indicators in participants with junior titles were lower than those with intermediate and senior titles(P<0.05).Compared with the general staff,the person in charge of the unit and the person in charge of the second unit had higher scores on the overall scale and four first-level indicators(P<0.05).Compared with the subjects engaged in other work,the subjects engaged in infectious disease prevention and control work had higher overall scores,professionalism scores and social humanities scores(P<0.05).Compared with the subjects engaged in other work,the subjects engaged in health supervision work had higher scores in professionalism(P<0.05).There were significant differences in job competency scores of the participants in different posts and core professional positions,suggesting that the scale have a significant discriminating effect as well as good empirical validity.4.The average score of self-efficacy of the participants was 2.7±0.6,and the average social expectation score was(26.6±3.0).Participants who worked longer,with higher professional titles and won awards in the past five years had significant higher overall scores and scores in professionalism(P<0.05).General self-efficacy and social desirability were positively correlated each other,and they were positively correlated with the overall scores of the scale and the scores of four first-level indicators significantly(P<0.01).The interaction between general self-efficacy and social desirability was significantly related to the score of professionalism,as well as trait and efficacy.ConclusionsThe rating scale on job competency for preventive medicine graduate has acceptable reliability and validity.It can be used not only as self-assessment for preventive medicine graduates,but also as a tool for employees’evaluation.The development of the scale can further promote the teaching reform of preventive medicine graduate in colleges and universities,and provide ideas in terms of curriculum setting and priority areas development,so as to be a truly driving force of preventive medicine graduate training practice.