Development and validation of a knowledge attitude and practice questionnaire on nutrition related cancer prevention for Iranian women

Designing cancer prevention programs needs information on knowledge, attitude, and practice of the community. Unfortunately, this information is not available in Iran.

We developed a questionnaire (NUTCANKAPQ) to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian women regarding cancer prevention dietary habits. We recruited women who had referred to public health‑care centers in Tehran, Iran. To assess validity, we applied face, content, and construct validity methods. We performed test–retest approaches to assess reliability, and internal consistency of the questionnaire was assessed through Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).

Qualitative content validity was carried out by an expert panel, and internal consistency was deemed satisfactory (Cronbach’s alpha, >0.6). We also observed high reliability in the questionnaire (ICC = 0.85). The mean (± standard deviation) scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice of study participants were 28.3 (±14.1), 67.1 (±18.9), and 53.7 (±8.3), respectively. The result of exploratory factor analysis, Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO), implied that the model was reasonably fit (KMO > 0.6). The final questionnaire included seventy items.

NUTCANKAPQ is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of cancer‑related nutrition knowledge, attitude, and practice among the Iranian population. Application of NUTCANKAPQ may provide important clues for policy‑making and improvement of cancer prevention programs among the Iranian population.