Developing and validating questionnaires to assess knowledge, attitude, and performance toward obesity among Iranian adults and adolescents: TABASSOM study

BACKGROUND: The present study describes the methods of developing and validating two questionnaires that will be used to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of adults, children and adolescents regarding obesity. METHODS: To design the questionnaires, we used the components of the Health Belief Model. The questionnaire for adults consisted of 6 sections with 50 questions. The questionnaire for children and adolescents included 7 sections and 52 questions. The questionnaires were assessed for face validity, content validity, and clarity of the items. To determine the internal consistency reliability of the questionnaires, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was measured for 100 questionnaires. Using the correlation coefficient, we determined the equivalent reliability of the study tools. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient ranged between 0.60 and 0.80 for the whole questionnaires. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the questionnaires for adults, children and adolescents were respectively 0.72 and 0.60 for awareness. The corresponding values for attitude were 0.70 and 0.75. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient, the interobserver reliability was determined to be significant (r ≥ 0.80; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study tools had adequate reliability and validity. They are thus suitable for assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practices of Iranian adults, and children and adolescents in toward obesity. Keywords: Validation Questionnaire, Obesity, Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviors