Coronavirus Disease 2019–Induced Perceived Stigmatization in Physicians Scale

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019–Induced Perceived Stigmatization in Physicians Scale, developed by Önsüz et al. in 2023, is a self-report instrument designed to assess physicians’ perceptions of stigma related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. The scale was created to address a gap in COVID-19 stigmatization measures specifically tailored for physicians. The development process began with an initial pool of 35 items, derived from a comprehensive literature review. This pool was subsequently reviewed by four specialists, and its content validity was assessed by 14 specialists, leading to an 18-item measure. Following a pilot study, two items were removed due to misinterpretation by physicians, resulting in a 10-item scale administered to physicians in Turkey. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a two-factor structure for the final 10-item scale. The study also reported on the reliability and validity of the measure.

Keywords

Coronavirus Disease 2019–Induced Perceived Stigmatization, COVID-19-Induced Stigmatization, Differential Validity, Environmental Perceived Stigmatization, Personally Perceived Stigmatization, Physicians’ Perceptions

Authors

Önsüz, Muhammed Fatih; Oktar, Didem; Gedik, Sevil Aydoğan; Sungur, Sevda; Metintaş, Selma; Köşger, Ferdi; Altınöz, Ali Ercan

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Purpose

The primary purpose of this measure is to quantitatively assess the perceived stigmatization experienced by physicians due to coronavirus disease 2019.

Validity

Content Validity: The content validity index for the scale, based on the remaining 18 items before the final reduction, was calculated to be 0.69.
Differential Validity: The study found that physicians who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, those with individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in their immediate environment, those who considered resignation during the pandemic, and those who scored 55 points and above on the Stigma Scale (Yaman & Güngör, 2013) all exhibited higher scores on the COVID-19-Induced Perceived Stigmatization in Physicians Scale.
Criterion Validity: A Spearman’s correlation coefficient of 0.345 (P < .001) was observed between the scores obtained from the COVID-19-Induced Perceived Stigmatization Scale in Physicians and the Stigma Scale, indicating a statistically significant relationship.

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the scale was 0.88, with all item-total correlation coefficients exceeding 0.3, indicating good internal consistency. For the individual factors, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.875 for factor 1 and 0.766 for factor 2.
Test-retest Reliability: No significant difference was noted between the scores obtained from two administrations of the test within a two-week interval, with a correlation coefficient of 0.91 (P = .125), suggesting high test-retest reliability.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): During the EFA process, items with factor loadings below 0.30 were systematically removed. An initial analysis led to the removal of one cross-loading item. The EFA was then repeated with the remaining 12 items. Subsequently, two additional items were removed because they did not align with other items within their respective sub-dimensions. The final EFA, conducted on the remaining 10 items, revealed a clear two-factor structure. These two factors collectively explained 61.66% of the total variance, with factor loads ranging from 0.66 to 0.85.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): The two-factor model demonstrated sufficient goodness-of-fit indices. The values obtained were: χ² = 152.30, df = 34, χ²/df = 4.47, p = 0.00000, RMSEA = 0.107, NFI = 0.95, NNFI = 0.95, PNFI = 0.72, CFI = 0.96, IFI = 0.96, RFI = 0.93, RMR = 0.068, SRMR = 0.051, GFI = 0.91, AGFI = 0.85, PGFI = 0.56. These indices suggest a good fit of the model to the observed data.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire designed to measure COVID-19-Induced Stigmatization.
Format: The items are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The response options are: “strongly disagree,” “disagree,” “no idea,” “agree,” and “strongly agree.” A higher score on the scale indicates an increased level of COVID-19-induced perceived stigmatization in physicians.
Language Available: The scale is available in Turkish.
Population Group: Human (Male and Female).
Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older), specifically including Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs), Thirties (30-39 yrs), Middle Age (40-64 yrs), and Aged (65 yrs & older).
Population Details: The study population consisted of physicians located in Turkey.
Test Methodology: The methodology involved various psychometric evaluations, including Test Validity (Content Validity, Criterion Validity), Test Reliability (Internal Consistency, Test-Retest Reliability), and Factor Analysis (Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis).

Keywords

Coronavirus Disease 2019–Induced Perceived Stigmatization, COVID-19-Induced Stigmatization, Differential Validity, Environmental Perceived Stigmatization, Personally Perceived Stigmatization, Physicians’ Perceptions

Authors

Önsüz, Muhammed Fatih

• ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

• Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, School of Medicine

• Email addresses: [email protected]

• Correspondence Address: [email protected]

Oktar, Didem

• ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

• Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, School of Medicine

• Email addresses: No data is Available

Gedik, Sevil Aydoğan

• ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

• Affiliation: Department of Ministry of Health, Odunpazari District Health Directorate

• Email addresses: No data is Available

Sungur, Sevda

• ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

• Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, School of Medicine

• Email addresses: No data is Available

Metintaş, Selma

• ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

• Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, School of Medicine

• Email addresses: No data is Available

Köşger, Ferdi

• ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

• Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, School of Medicine

• Email addresses: No data is Available

Altınöz, Ali Ercan

• ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

• Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, School of Medicine

• Email addresses: No data is Available

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: To obtain permission for use, please contact the Corresponding Author.
Fee: No fee is required for the use of this scale.
Test Year: 2023

References

Önsüz, M. F., Oktar, D., Gedik, S. A., Sungur, S., Metintaş, S., Köşger, F., & Altınöz, A. E. (2023). Development and validation of Coronavirus disease 2019-Induced Perceived Stigmatization in Physicians Scale. Alpha Psychiatry, 24(4), 138–145. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2005-7269

Items of the Coronavirus Disease 2019–Induced Perceived Stigmatization in Physicians Scale

This measure consists of 10 items. Specific item content is not provided, but the scale includes two factors: Environmental perceived stigmatization and Personally perceived stigmatization.