Development and validation of a competency assessment questionnaire for healthcare-associated infection prevention and control practitioners in Guizhou Province, China

Healthcare-associated infection prevention and control practitioners (HAIPCPs) play a central role in patient safety, yet China lacks context-specific instruments for assessing their competencies. This study developed and validated a competency assessment questionnaire for HAIPCPs in Guizhou Province, China. An instrument development and validation study was conducted in four phases. First, an initial item pool was generated through a literature review, relevant international competency frameworks, Chinese guidelines, and expert discussion. Second, a two-round modified Delphi consultation was conducted to evaluate the relevance and importance of the items and to refine the questionnaire. The item-level content validity index, scale-level content validity index, and coefficient of variation were calculated, and the experts’ qualitative comments were considered when revising the items. Third, face validity assessment and pilot testing were conducted among eligible HAIPCPs to assess item comprehensibility and questionnaire feasibility. Finally, structural validity and internal consistency were evaluated using principal component analysis and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The initial 55-item questionnaire was reduced to 44 items after two Delphi rounds. The S-CVI/Ave was 0.87 in round 1 and 0.89 for the 44 items retained after round 2; the S-FVI/Ave was 0.98. In the main study, 209 HAIPCPs completed the questionnaire. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin value was 0.957, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant ( P < 0.001). Principal component analysis identified a five-component structure comprising basic knowledge, advanced infection prevention and control competency, environmental hygiene, leadership, and professionalism. The five components explained 75.34% of the total variance, and the component loadings ranged from 0.49 to 0.84. The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.986, while the coefficients for the five dimensions ranged from 0.885 to 0.983. The 44-item CEI-HAIPCPs showed satisfactory content validity, face validity, structural validity, and internal consistency in this sample. It may help identify training needs and guide competency-based professional development, but further validation in broader populations is needed.