Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire Short Form in Spanish and Italian Operating Rooms: Psychometric Properties

Abstract

Objectives The aims of the study were to translate the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire Short Form (SAQ-SF) in Spanish and Italian surgical settings and to assess its psychometric properties.

Method The cross-cultural adaptation process was performed following the internationally recognized guidelines. A panel of 30 experts evaluated the content validity. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were evaluated using a cross-sectional design.

Results The translation process was carried out without relevant difficulties. In Spain, 29 of the 36 SAQ-SF items showed excellent content validity index. In Italy, there were 33 items with an excellent rating. The SAQ-SF’s overall Cronbach α was 0.8 for both countries. Test-retest reliability showed good to very good stability in both in countries.

Conclusions Italian and Spanish researchers rate differently the same scale, demonstrating the diversity of relevance of the same questions in different countries. A validated questionnaire is now accessible to the Spanish and Italian hospital managements of the National Health Service to measure the safety climate in day-to-day practice in the operating rooms.