Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Scale for Identifying Specific Learning Problems in Dental Students

Background: Learning disabilities can adversely affect the academic and professional performance of dental students and ultimately impact the quality of health services provided to the community. Given the absence of a standardized questionnaire for assessing specific learning problems among dental students, the development of a valid and reliable tool tailored to this group is essential. Methods: This three-phase descriptive study involved generating and refining a pool of questionnaire items through qualitative interviews and a review of authoritative literature. Subsequently, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were assessed. To this end, face validity was examined using the item impact method, while content validity was evaluated through the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and the Content Validity Index (CVI). Finally, the questionnaire was administered to 137 dental students, and construct validity was established through the assessment of convergent and discriminant validity using Smart-PLS software (Version 4). Reliability was further determined using Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability coefficients. Results: The initial version of the questionnaire consisted of 70 items. Following face validity and qualitative and quantitative content validity assessments, the number of items was reduced to 48. The finalized instrument assesses 11 domains, including difficulties in reading, mathematics, writing, motor skills, language, auditory and visual processing, spatial problems, social cognition, social anxiety, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In face validity assessment, all items demonstrated acceptable impact scores. The average CVI was 86%, and the CVR was 68%. Conclusion: The questionnaire designed to assess specific learning problems among dental students, comprising 48 items, demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability. Completion requires no more than 15 minutes. The questionnaire, specifically developed for dental students, can be utilized in future studies.