TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 Knowledge Test
T2 - An Assessment Tool for Health Educators During the COVID-19 Pandemic
AU - Richardson, Lindsy J.
AU - Bélanger, Jocelyn J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We wish to thank Colin Kemp, M.A. for his consultation on data analysis. Thank you to Pat McCaffery, Ph.D., Margaret Neuspiel, Ph.D., John Nguyen, MD, and Dina Uzer, MMBS for providing review of the content of the test items and literature review.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Richardson and Bélanger.
PY - 2020/11/5
Y1 - 2020/11/5
N2 - Background: As of August 11, 2020, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected 19,936,210 persons and led to 732,499 deaths worldwide. The impact has been immense, and with no vaccine currently available, the best way to protect our communities is health education. We developed a brief COVID-19 knowledge test for health educators that can be used to assess deficits in clients' understanding of the disease. Methods: COVID-19 Knowledge Test items were developed by the research team and administered to participants. An alternate-choice item format was selected for the knowledge test, and data analysis was based on an American sample of 273 respondents. A detailed analysis of the data was conducted with classical test theory and Rasch analysis. Findings: The final instrument was found to be a unidimensional measure of COVID-19 knowledge. Results provided evidence for absolute model fit and model fit for individual items. All items included on the scale were monotonically increasing and split-half reliability was considered acceptable. Total test information revealed that the test is suitable for individuals with low to average knowledge of COVID-19. Interpretation: Rasch analysis provides support for the COVID-19 Knowledge Test to be used as an assessment tool for health educators. The final version of the test consists of 34 high-quality test items that can be administered in <10 min. Normative data and suggested cutoff scores are also provided.
AB - Background: As of August 11, 2020, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected 19,936,210 persons and led to 732,499 deaths worldwide. The impact has been immense, and with no vaccine currently available, the best way to protect our communities is health education. We developed a brief COVID-19 knowledge test for health educators that can be used to assess deficits in clients' understanding of the disease. Methods: COVID-19 Knowledge Test items were developed by the research team and administered to participants. An alternate-choice item format was selected for the knowledge test, and data analysis was based on an American sample of 273 respondents. A detailed analysis of the data was conducted with classical test theory and Rasch analysis. Findings: The final instrument was found to be a unidimensional measure of COVID-19 knowledge. Results provided evidence for absolute model fit and model fit for individual items. All items included on the scale were monotonically increasing and split-half reliability was considered acceptable. Total test information revealed that the test is suitable for individuals with low to average knowledge of COVID-19. Interpretation: Rasch analysis provides support for the COVID-19 Knowledge Test to be used as an assessment tool for health educators. The final version of the test consists of 34 high-quality test items that can be administered in <10 min. Normative data and suggested cutoff scores are also provided.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Rasch analysis
KW - health education
KW - knowledge
KW - scale development
KW - test
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U2 - 10.3389/fpubh.2020.580204
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2020.580204
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096379360
SN - 2296-2565
VL - 8
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
JF - Frontiers in Public Health
M1 - 580204
ER -