Measuring Managerial, Collegial, and Organizational Aspects Associated With Digital Health Competence in Healthcare Professionals: Validation of the Chinese Version of the DigiComInf Instrument

Background: Managerial, collegial, and organizational influences have been recognized as critical factors for developing digital health competence among healthcare professionals, but there is currently a lack of validated Chinese instruments to evaluate these factors.

Aims: To culturally adapt and validate the Chinese version of the DigiComInf (aspects associated with digital health competence) instrument among Chinese healthcare professionals.

Method: The DigiComInf instrument was translated into Chinese following the established guidelines. The cultural adaptation involved expert review and cognitive interviews. A total of 311 healthcare professionals were sampled to test reliability and validity of the instrument, with 30 participants undergoing a retest after a 2-week interval. Item analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, content validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and construct validity were examined.

Results: Item analysis indicated satisfactory item discrimination (critical values range: 17.63–26.70), item correlation (corrected item-total correlation coefficient > 0.4), and item homogeneity. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.96) and test-retest reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.96, 95% CI 0.91–0.98) were excellent. The scale content validity index was excellent (0.97). Principal component analysis extracted three common factors, explaining 80.54% of the cumulative variance. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a well-fit 3-factor model (χ²/df = 3.19, CFI = 0.94, NFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.93, IFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.10, and SRMSR = 0.04), with acceptable convergent and discriminant validity.

Conclusion: The Chinese version of the DigiComInf is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing managerial, collegial, and organizational influences on the development of digital health competence among Chinese healthcare professionals.

Implications for Nursing Management: This study presents a validated instrument to evaluate managerial, collegial, and organizational influences on healthcare professionals’ digital health competence. Healthcare managers, healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers can use it to accurately identify modifiable socio-organizational factors associated with digital health competence among various healthcare professionals in various settings, thereby informing targeted interventions to enhance their digital health competence.