Visual Screening Competencies Questionnaire (VSCQ) and Orthoptic Practice
Carla Costa Lança, BOrth 1,2
Elisabete Carolino, BMath 1
Carla Nunes, BMath 2,3
1 Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Portugal
2 Centro de Investigação e Estudos em Saúde Pública, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
3 Centro de Malária & Doenças Tropicais, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
The identification of core competencies which are important for undertaking accurate visual screening by orthoptists is considered in this study. The aim was to construct and validate a questionnaire for orthoptists to assess visual screening competency. This study comprised three steps. The first step involved a 69-item self-assessment questionnaire constructed to assess orthoptists’ perception of their competencies in visual screening programs for children. This questionnaire was constructed with statements from the Orthoptic Benchmark Statement for Health Care Programmes (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, United Kingdom) and included three competency dimensions: interpersonal (IP), instrumental (IT) and systemic (ST). The second step involved questionnaire translation. Statements were translated into Portuguese and survey items were then reviewed by two experts. The third step involved questionnaire validation for internal consistency (n = 36 orthoptists) and factorial dimension analysis (n = 58 orthoptists). Questionnaire dimensions presented the following internal consistency: α (ST) = 0.916; α (IP) = 0.949; α (IT) = 0.892. After performing the factorial analysis of principal components, results showed a total explained variance of 61.21% (KMO = 0.795). The IP dimension demonstrated 35.88% of the variance and IT 14.45% of the variance. Each dimension item was shown to be a good measure of ST, IP and IT. The questionnaire provides a method of measurement of orthoptists’ perception of their competencies in the visual screening of children.
