Abstract
BACKGROUND: eHealth technologies have shown promise in improving the accessibility and quality of nursing research and practice. Little is known about nurses' perception of eHealth technology that are prerequisites for the implementation of eHealth-based nursing care. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to confirm the factor structure and examine the validity and reliability of the novel 19-item Perception of eHealth Technology Scale in Chinese Brief (PETS-C Brief) in Chinese nurses. The associations of sociodemographic and working-related characteristics with PETS-C Brief scores were investigated. METHODS: Participants were 1409 nurses (96.8% female; mean age 34.6, SD 8.6 y) working in hospital or community settings in Shanghai, China. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to verify the previously reported four-factor structure of PETS-C Brief. Cronbach α was calculated for internal consistency reliability. One-month test-retest reliability was assessed in 123 participants completing the one-month follow-up survey. Associations of sociodemographic and working-related characteristics (ie, years of employment, professional title, and setting) with PETS-C Brief scores were analyzed using multivariable linear regression. Known-group validity was assessed by examining the associations of age and educational attainment with PETS-C Brief scores. RESULTS: The goodness-of-fit of the four-factor PETS-C Brief was shown to be acceptable (comparative fit index [CFI]=0.95, standardized root mean squared residual [SRMR]=0.065, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]=0.074). The scale showed a good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach α=0.91) and one-month test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.68, 95% CI: 0.55, 0.78). Known-group validity was supported by the inverse association of age with PETS-C Brief scores (P=.002) and positive association of educational attainment with PETS-C Brief scores (P for trend=.043). No significant associations were observed between working-related characteristics and PETS-C Brief scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our validation study supported the four-factor structure of PETS-C Brief with satisfactory validity and reliability in Chinese nurses, suggesting the scale could be deployed for assessing perception of eHealth technology. Future studies with larger sample, random sampling, and in other cultural settings are warranted to increase the generalizability.