Abstract: Objective To develop an assessment tool on experiential learning needs for death education in medical students with scientificity and practicality, and to test its reliability and validity. Methods Between January and February 2023, an item pool for the assessment tool was developed based on findings from prior qualitative research and literature review. Using purposive sampling, a Delphi consultation was conducted with 14 experts. From February to April 2023, a convenience sampling strategy was employed to survey 1 108 medical students from 23 institutions across 16 provinces and municipalities. The survey data were used for item analysis as well as reliability and validity testing. Results The experiential learning needs assessment tool for medical students in death education was developed to include 2 sections: ″desired content in death education″ and ″preferred teaching methods″, comprising 14 dimensions and 53 items. The cumulative variance contribution rates for the two sections were 87.52% and 85.52%, respectively. The ratio of χ² and degrees of freedom (χ²/DF) were 5.452 and 4.627, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were 0.069 and 0.062, the goodness of fit indices (GFI) were 0.860 and 0.927, the comparative fit quality indices (CFI) were 0.957 and 0.972, the normative fit indices (NFI) were 0.948 and 0.964, the incremental fit indices (IFI) were 0.957 and 0.972; and the non-normed fit index (TLI) were 0.950 and 0.965. The overall Cronbach′s α coefficient of the tool was 0.985, and the test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.712. Conclusions The assessment tool on experiential learning needs for death education in medical students demonstrated good reliability and validity, which can be used as a reliable tool to investigate the needs of medical students for experiential learning in death education in the future.

Key words: Students, medical, Death education, Experiential learing, Needs, Assessment tool, Reliability and validity