Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude and Utilization Survey

Abstract

Objective: Most health professions recognize the value of evidence-based practice (EBP), yet the uptake of EBP across most health disciplines has been suboptimal. To improve EBP uptake, it is important to first understand the many dimensions that affect EBP use. The Evidence-Based practice Attitude and utilization SurvEy (EBASE) was designed to measure the attitudes, skills, and use of EBP among practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM); however, the dimensionality of the instrument is not well understood. The aim of the current research was to examine the psychometric properties of the attitudes, skills, and use subscales of EBASE. Design: This was a secondary analysis of data obtained from the administration of EBASE. Data were examined using principal components analyses and confirmatory methods. Internal consistency reliabilities of resultant subscales were also computed. Participants: 1314 U.S. chiropractors and 554 Canadian chiropractors. Results: A unidimensional structure best fit the attitudes and use subscales. Skills subscale items were best represented by subscales with a multidimensional structure. Specifically, the skills construct was best modeled with three dimensions (identification of the research question, locating research, and application of EBP). All subscales had acceptable internal consistency reliability estimates. Conclusions: The findings support the modification of the scoring guidelines for the original EBASE. These changes are likely to result in a more accurate measure of EBP attitudes, skills, and use among chiropractors, and possibly CAM providers more generally.

Skills, attitudes and uptake of evidence-based practice: a cross-sectional study of chiropractors in the Swedish Chiropractic Association

“…age, sex, highest qualification, clinical setting, geographical region). EBASE has been administered to more than 8 distinct health professions to date [ 29 , 30 , 32 , 34 – 38 ], and has been shown through psychometric testing to have good construct and content validity, acceptable test-retest reliability and good internal consistency [ 39 , 40 ]. A useful feature of EBASE is its ability to generate three subscores.…”

An investigation of Australian osteopaths’ attitudes, skills and utilisation of evidence-based practice: a national cross-sectional survey

“…This instrument has been administered to diverse practitioner populations to date, including chiropractors [30–32], herbalists [33, 34], naturopaths [33], yoga therapists [35] and nursing students [36]. EBASE has also undergone psychometric evaluation, and has been shown to have good internal consistency, construct validity, content validity, and acceptable test-retest reliability [37, 38].…”

Attitudes, skills and use of evidence-based practice among UK osteopaths: a national cross-sectional survey

“…The Evidence-Based practice Attitude and utilization SurvEy (EBASE) is an 84-item instrument evaluating the attitudes, perceived skills and use of EBP amongst healthcare providers [ 47 ]. The questionnaire has been previously administered to different health provider groups [ 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 47 , 48 ], and psychometric evaluation shows good internal consistency, content validity, construct validity, and acceptable test-retest reliability [ 47 , 49 ].…”