Working in “smart” mode during the Covid-19 pandemic. Validation of a questionnaire in the healthcare sector

Background. During the most difficult phases of the Covid-19 health emergency, when access to the usual work location was not allowed due to the constraints related to the pandemic, Smart Working enabled business continuity in the face of the ongoing health emergency. Modern technology serves a new way of working, allowing workers to effectively manage their professional and personal spheres in a world that increasingly requires them to optimize their time. The main objective of this research is to validate a Smart Working questionnaire administered to healthcare workers. Methods. The questionnaire, reported in Annex I, consisting of 30 questions and submitted electronically through Google Forms, was administered in Italian to healthcare personnel of the Teaching hospital Umberto I and Sapienza University of Rome between September and October 2020. The questionnaire analyzed the characteristics of the sample and investigated the perception and attitude of healthcare personnel towards seven different aspects of Smart Working. A descriptive analysis of the sample examined and an internal consistency analysis was performed through the use of the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) program version 25.0. Cronbach's alpha statistical indicator, which measures reproducibility over time, reliability, and homogeneity of questions, was used for the analysis. Results. A total number of 53 health care providers answered the online questionnaire. The majority of the respondents were female (60.4%); 73.6% of respondents reported having a college degree or a higher educational level. The analysis showed an overall standardized Cronbach's Alpha of 0.709, which corresponds to a good reliability. In the items analysis, the alpha value ranged from a minimum of 0.652 to a maximum of 0.756. Conclusions. The present tool is adequate to investigate attitudes towards Smart Working among healthcare workers.