Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Psychometric Validation of the TeamSTEPPS® Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire: A Methodological Study

TL;DR

This study translated and validated a teamwork attitudes questionnaire for Portuguese healthcare professionals, ensuring it is reliable and culturally appropriate.

Contribution

The study provides a validated Portuguese version of the TeamSTEPPS® Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire (T-TAQ-PT) for assessing healthcare professionals' teamwork attitudes.

Findings

The Portuguese T-TAQ has 30 items across five dimensions with good internal consistency (α = 0.86).

Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the five-factor structure with acceptable fit indices.

The questionnaire explains 53.9% of the variance and is suitable for assessing teamwork attitudes in the Portuguese context.

Abstract

Background: Teamwork and effective communication are widely recognized as essential pillars for the safety and quality of healthcare. However, in Portugal, no validated instrument had previously been available to assess healthcare professionals’ attitudes toward teamwork. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the TeamSTEPPS® Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire (T-TAQ) for the Portuguese context, resulting in the Portuguese version of the instrument. Methods: A methodological study with a quantitative approach was developed. The translation and cultural adaptation process followed internationally recognized guidelines. The sample consisted of 162 healthcare professionals (136 nurses and 26 physicians) from a hospital in Lisbon. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to assess construct validity. The internal consistency of the scale was analyzed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results: The Portuguese version comprises 30 items distributed across five dimensions: Effective Leadership Support, Team Functional Performance, Teamwork Coordination, Willingness to Engage in Teamwork, and Team Functioning Supervision. The scale demonstrated a total explained variance of 53.9% and an overall internal consistency coefficient (α) of 0.86, indicating good reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor structure of the scale (χ2/df = 1.461; CFI = 0.900; GFI = 0.821; RMSEA = 0.054; MECVI = 4.731). Conclusions: The T-TAQ-PT proved to be a valid, reliable, and robust instrument for assessing healthcare professionals’ individual attitudes toward teamwork, contributing to the development of research and clinical practice in the Portuguese context.

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