Developing and validation of a questionnaire for assessment of individual's perceived risk of four major non-communicable diseases in Myanmar

Abstract

The adopting healthy life styles are greatly influenced by individual’s perceived risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire that can assess the individual’s perceived risk of developing four major NCDs. Exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used. Qualitative part developed the question items pool by conducting two expert panels while quantitative part validated the questionnaire using both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Separate samples were used for EFA (n=150) and CFA (n=210). The participants were aged between 25-60 years of both sexes with no known history of NCDs. Face to face interview was conducted. Parallel analysis was done to decide the number of factors to be extracted. EFA was done using maximum likelihood method with Promax rotation to extract the underlying factors of perceived risk while CFA was done to assess the goodness of fit of proposed EFA Model using model fit indices. Based on literature search, 86-item questionnaire was firstly generated. During two expert panels, some overlapped items and items that did not represent the specific construct were removed. Experts made sure the content validity of developed 51-item questionnaire which was used to collect data from 360 participants. EFA revealed the five factors model with 22 high loading items which extracted 54% of total variance. CFA proved that hypothesized five factors model of 21-item questionnaire (one item was removed due to low loading) was satisfied with adequate psychometric properties and model fit indices (RMSEA=0.056, CFI=0.921, TLI=0.908, SRMR=0.063 & χ2/df=1.66). Developed 21-item questionnaire was shown to be valid and reliable to assess the perceived risk of developing NCDs among Myanmar population. Further research should be conducted to assess on the utility of the questionnaire in mismatch between risk perception and current risk and individualized counseling for behaviour change communication.View Full Text