EVIDENCES OF VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY FOR USE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL LEARNING READINESS SCALE (RIPLS-40) IN STUDENTS OF BAHIA

Abstract

Introduction: Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) is a self-report psychometric scale that aims to assess the availability of students and health professionals for shared and collaborative learning between professions from different areas. Since it was originally proposed in England in 1999, RIPLS has been used in different countries, including Brazil, in a continuous process of improvement and demonstration of evidence of validity and reliability for use and interpretation of results obtained with its use. Objective: To evaluate evidence of validity and reliability for the RIPLS-40 in a sample of students from undergraduate health courses at a public university located in the interior of the state of Bahia. Method: 205 students participated in five health courses (Psychology, Nutrition, Nursing, Medicine and Interdisciplinary Bachelor's Degree in Health), with different training models: linear and cycle training. Data were collected in the classroom. Factor analyses/exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) were carried out to evaluate the dimensionality of the instrument, as well as reliability and group comparison analyzes at the level of p ≤ 0.05. Results: The results of the psychometric analyzes indicated a satisfactory fit of the factor model with three factors: “Teamwork and collaboration” (CC = 0.89); “Professional identity” (C = 0.67); “Patient-centered care” (CC = 0.92). RIPLS-40 was able to differentiate groups and identify powerful academic activities for promoting interprofessionality. Conclusion: Evidence of validity and reliability of the RIPLS-40 was demonstrated, especially for the factors “Teamwork and collaboration” and “Patient-centered care”. Additional studies are recommended for the use of the RIPLS-40 scale, in particular for the “Professional identity” factor, which has shown fragility in validation in Brazilian contexts, as well as in other countries.