Preliminary Validation of a Native American Food Safety Knowledge Survey

The objective of this study was to develop and validate a food safety knowledge survey culturally appropriate for Native American Populations. A reiterative three-phased approach (survey generation and item construction, survey item review, and statistical item analysis) to survey validation was employed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Surveys were given to 28 individuals fitting the demographic criteria: Native American adults who are primary food handlers with children under the age of 10. Surveys were analyzed statistically using item difficulty, item discrimination, and internal consistency. Key informant interviews were conducted with six participants who fit the inclusionary criteria. Key informant interviews were used to assess the cultural appropriateness of the survey as it pertains to level of difficulty, format, wording and language, length, and content. Additionally, five experts in the field of nutrition and dietetics assessed item construct domain, essentialness, clarity, and representativeness. Subject-matter expert data was analyzed using inter-rater agreement, content validity index, and factorial validity index. A culturally appropriate, content valid, and reliable survey for Native American primary food handlers with children under the age of ten was created to collect national data on food safety knowledge of Native Americans.USDAHealth EducationMastersUniversity of New Mexico. Division of Physical Performance and DevelopmentPerry, ChristinaDuryea, EliasAvila, Magdalen