Development and Preliminary Validation of the Parental Education in Physiotherapy Scale for Use in Spain: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Given the scarcity of specific instruments to assess parental education in pediatric physiotherapy, this study developed the Parental Education in Physiotherapy Scale (Spanish acronym, EPF) and calculated its preliminary psychometric properties, acceptability, and feasibility. A cross-sectional instrumental study was conducted: the EPF was designed based on a specifications matrix and validated by expert judges in two phases. Then it was administered digitally to 63 physiotherapists experienced in treating children under six years of age. They rated it on a 4-point Likert response scale, and qualitative observations on its clarity, usefulness, and acceptability were collected. The validation showed adequate content validity (I-CVI ≥ 0.86; 31/32 items had I-CVI = 1.00) and high inter-judge agreement (global W = 0.659; p < 0.001). In the pilot study, exploratory factor analysis identified three factors (Collaboration, Capacity-Building, and Reflection) that explained 59% of the variance. After refining it, the final version comprised 18 items, showing high internal consistency (ordinal α = 0.944, ω = 0.934). Acceptability was high (100% found it useful; 98.4% said it facilitated reflection; 95.2% found it clear). Overall, the EPF provides preliminary evidence of validity, internal consistency, acceptability, and feasibility, although larger samples and additional analyses are required for its consolidation.