Table 2.

Frequency of reported challenge groupings by epidemiology emergency response survey participants (n = 166), 2019–2020

Grouping	n = 166 (%)	Eigen value	Cronbach α	Itemised challenge	Factor loading	n = 166 (%)	Responder type * (p)	Item-total correlation
1.Communication (n = 7 challenges)	76 (46%)	3.9	0.74	‘Nobody told me what had already been done’	0.70	27 (16%)	0.09	0.68
				‘The team leader did not know how to use me/my skills’	0.68	30 (18%)	0.049	0.65
				‘I did not understand my role’	0.66	19 (11%)	0.26	0.70
				‘The priorities of the response were not communicated to me’	0.63	22 (13%)	0.06	0.69
				‘Nobody told me what to do’	0.61	22 (13%)	0.34	0.68
				‘There were too many other epidemiologists’	0.51	12 (7%)	0.50	0.50
				‘My deployment period was too short to be effective’	0.36	32 (19%)	0.69	0.48
2.Culture and relationships (n = 4 challenges)	19 (11%)	2.1	0.66	‘There was nobody I could ask cultural questions to’	0.82	2 (1%)	0.09	0.84
				‘I felt it was difficult to develop relationships with international colleagues’	0.74	6 (4%)	0.003	0.69
				‘I did not understand the culture’	0.60	9 (5%)	0.10	0.84
				‘I felt it was difficult to develop relationships with local colleagues’	0.60	10 (6%)	0.54	0.70
3.Technical skills (n = 3 challenges)	24 (14%)	1.6	0.67	‘I did not have the right technical skills needed in the field’	0.75	12 (7%)	0.25	0.81
				‘I found it difficult to apply my skills to the required work’	0.73	11 (7%)	0.74	0.78
				‘I did not have the right software skills’	0.63	15 (9%)	0.09	0.74
4.Political dynamics and security (n = 3 challenges)	88 (53%)	1.4	0.52	‘Political dynamics were challenging to understand and work within’	0.73	58 (35%)	0.03	0.71
				‘Security issues affected my capacity to work’	0.64	36 (22%)	0.04	0.71
				‘Collaborating with other partners outside my agency was difficult’	0.53	45 (27%)	0.552	0.72
5. Language (n = 1 challenge)	20 (12%)	–	–	‘My language skills were insufficient to need’	0.39	20 (12%)	0.001	–

*Responder type (international or national responder)