Reliability and Validity of a Korean Version of the Cultural Awareness Scale (K-CAS)

Few instruments are available to measure nurses' perceptions of cultural competence in South Korea. Furthermore, the equivalence of factors between original and translated instruments has not been evaluated. The specific aims of this study were to identify the validity and reliability of a Korean version of the Cultural Awareness Scale (K-CAS) and to evaluate the equivalence of factors between the original CAS and the K-CAS. A total of 515 nursing students completed the 26-item K-CAS, 28-item Caffrey Cultural Competence in Healthcare Scale (CCCHS), and eight-item Openness to Diversity and Challenge Scale (ODCS). The K-CAS exhibited good reliability (${\alpha}=.83$) and construct validity by correlating with the CCCHS (r=.344, p<.001) and ODCS (r=.394, p<.001). Confirmatory factor analysis results of the K-CAS confirmed the same factor structure as the original CAS. The K-CAS could be a useful tool to assess the concept of cultural competence among nursing students and nurses.