Instruments to measure cancer management knowledge of rural health care providers

Background. Instruments to measure cancer management knowledge of rural physicians, nurses, and pharmacists were needed to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention. Since such instruments did not exist, the authors designed and validated a new instrument for each discipline. Methods. The design and validation process for these instruments are described. Results. These three instruments were shown to be practical and to have high content and construct validity. Content validation demonstrated that all items were rated as essential or useful by 90% or more of the respondents. Construct validation show highly significant differences in mean scores among several levels of learners and practitioners as expected. Conclusions. These instruments may be useful to other investigators for measuring cancer management knowledge of rural physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.