PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION QUESTIONNAIRE AMONG NURSES IN MALAYSIA

Background: Nurses' knowledge, skills and competencies are paramount for their preparedness to respond to emergency situations. This paper aims to test the psychometric properties and to determine the factor structure of the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) among nurses in Malaysia. Methods: There were 418 nurses in Sabah, Malaysia participated in this study. Besides, EPIQ, The Nurse Assessment of Readiness scale and the self-regulation scale were used to the validity of EPIQ. Results: The study revealed that the nine dimensions of EPIQ demonstrated very good reliability and construct validity. All the items showed good intercorrelation. The result of Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a 3-factor solution model of EPIQ. The first factor was recategorized into four sub-factor due to the large number of the items loaded in this factor. Conclusions: The findings revealed that the EPIQ has strong psychometric properties. This scale can be used to measure nurses' preparedness in managing the emergency event in Malaysia.