Examining the Validity and Reliability of Perception of Health News Perception Scale (PHNS) Through Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Health news has been featured in the media since the early days of news production. The purpose of health news is to inform the public. However, starting from the 1990s, health news took on a commercial tone due to developing policies, and since then, health news has begun to promote institutions, organizations, doctors, or pharmaceutical companies. Nowadays, health news is designed as a form of perception management. In 2018, a scale was developed by Çınar and colleagues to examine this issue. However, researchers noted the scale fell short in certain aspects. They recommended the ‘Perception of Health News Scale’ (PHNS) be tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Currently, the PHNS is being used without undergoing CFA testing. The literature states that CFA is essential for the development of a scale. There is strong evidence that using a scale without performing this test may result in inaccurate outcomes. This study aimed to model the CFA structure of the PHNS and validate the scale’s accuracy and reliability. The study used Descriptive analysis techniques and CFA, and at the end of the study, it was found that the PHNS did not conform to the CFA fit indices. As such, due to invalidation, the scale was rejected. Researchers also examined the convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability of the PHNS for future use. These analyses could facilitate item writing so researchers can redevelop the PHNS if required.