The use of the Delphi technique as part of the process of developing a tool to evaluate physiotherapy clinical education programmes

Objectively evaluating the quality and effectiveness of a physiotherapy clinical education programme has been unsuccessful to date, due to its complexity and the lack of a standardised tool. We undertook to develop a standardised programme evaluation tool and used the Delphi method to obtain consensus (set at 80%) to determine the face and content validity of the items and domains of the tool, the scoring system and a name for the tool. Academics, clinical physiotherapists and clinical physiotherapy educators participated in the Delphi rounds. Three Delphi rounds ensued: in Delphi round 1, a 71% response rate was obtained and 49 questions obtained 80% consensus. In Delphi round 2, a 91% response rate was obtained and 59 questions obtained 80% consensus. In Delphi round 3, a 42% response rate was obtained, several names were suggested, and the scoring system was established. The provisional tool of 85 items ultimately emerged as the Vaneshveri Naidoo Clinical Programme Evaluation Tool (VN-CPET).