Keywords: Family Practice; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Professional Family Relationship

Background:

Family-centered care (FOC) is a cornerstone of family medicine, with robust evidence from meta-analyses demonstrating its effectiveness in improving clinical outcomes, such as glycemic and lipid control , and the overall physical and psychological well-being of patients and their families. Despite its proven value, assessing FOC in practice remains a challenge. Globally, measurement has predominantly relied on physician self-report instruments or third-party observation forms designed for educational settings. These methods are limited by significant self-assessment bias and the logistical difficulties of direct observation. Critically, a validated patient-reported outcome measure to evaluate FOC in the primary care setting is currently unavailable.

Research questions:

Is it feasible to achieve a valid and reliable measurement of family-oriented care based on patient perception?

Method:

This scale development study is grounded in Doherty and Baird’s Levels of Family Involvement model, specifically targeting levels 2-4. Following item generation, content validity will be established by an expert panel, with further refinement through cognitive interviews. A cross-sectional survey will recruit 2,000 patients from 100 family physicians using clustered random sampling. Given the nested data structure (patients within physicians), which violates the assumption of independence , a multilevel modeling approach is essential. Psychometric properties will be evaluated using Multilevel Exploratory (MEFA) and Confirmatory (MCFA) Factor Analyses on split-half samples. All analyses will be conducted using Mplus version 8.11.

Results:

N/A

Conclusions:

N/A

Points for discussion:

Recommendations for Convergent Validity Instruments

Suggestions for Item Generation

Call for Collaboration