The development of a scale to determine the effect of folkloric beliefs in the orthopedic and traumatology field

DOI: 10.4328/ACAM.20094 Received: 2019-12-17 Accepted: 2020-01-08 Published Online: 2020-03-13 Printed: 2020-06-01 Ann Clin Anal Med 2020;11(Suppl 2): S93-97 Corresponding Author: Özhan Pazarcı, Department of Orthopaedic and Traumatology, Cumhuriyet University School of Medicine, Sivas/Turkey. E-mail: dr.pazarci@gmail.com GSM: +90 534 681 90 45 Corresponding Author ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2345-0827 Abstract Aim: In Turkish society, there are general beliefs about treatment, but there is no scale to categorize these beliefs about treatment and measure the prevalence in society. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a general beliefs scale for the orthopedic and traumatology field. Materials and Methods: A scale comprising 25 items was applied to 698 individuals in face-to-face interviews and the data obtained were analyzed. The data were applied with confirmatory factor analysis from structural equivalence modeling. The 20th item was seen to disrupt the fit at this stage and was removed from the scale, leaving 24 items in 5 dimensions of “public beliefs about orthopedic treatment practices, beliefs related to treatment orientation, beliefs about fractures and nutrition, beliefs about infancy, and beliefs about orthopedic specialists”. Results: The model created with confirmatory factor analysis was determined to show perfect fit. The determination of valid fit with confirmatory factor analysis indicated that structural validity was present. The Cronbach α value for the reliability of the scale was 0.886, indicating that the scale is very reliable. Discussion: With reliability and validity confirmed, it was concluded the scale developed could be used to measure the effect of folkloric beliefs in the orthopedic and traumatology field.