Health professional-patient interaction assessment: preliminary validation of a questionnaire for parents of children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

This paper presents the results of a preliminary study about the internal consistency, factorial, and item analysis of the «Health Professional-Parents of Diabetic Children Interaction Questionnaire» (H.P.P.D.C.I.Q), an instrument to assess the perceived interaction between parents of diabetic children and health professionals. 153 parents (88 mothers and 65 fathers) of children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) completed the questionnaire. The final 30-item-version was found to have a high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0,95) and item-test correlations. Analysis revealed one primary factor which accounts for 40,99% of the variance. The study concludes that this instrument is a promising measure of interaction between health professionals and parents of children with IDDM and calls for further studies to endorse its psychometric properties.