Design and Psychometrics of the Preventive Behaviors against Corona Questionnaire

Today, identifying the factors affecting the preventive behaviors and control of the Covid-19 disease as a global crisis is the main need of all societies.  But in order to achieve this goal, a valid and reliable tool is needed to measure people's performance to prevent Corona .As a result, the current research was conducted with the aim of designing and psychometrically analyzing the questionnaire of preventive behaviors against Corona.

This descriptive study was conducted in 1400 and 1401.  First, a questionnaire of preventive behaviors against corona was designed with 48 questions, and then two quantitative and qualitative methods were used to determine the face validity of the questionnaire. Also, content validity was examined in both quantitative and qualitative ways. Then factor analysis was conducted with a sample of 220 people. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire, and the test and retest method was used to evaluate the stability. The data was analyzed based on SPSS software and statistical tests.

The total face validity score was 5/75. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for all constructs was reported to be higher than 0/7 and the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC) value of the questionnaire obtained from the test-retest with a two-week interval, with a 95% confidence interval, was 0/812, which indicates the reliability of the instrument.  In total, based on exploratory factor analysis, 6 factors were extracted. As a result, this scale has 6 subscales: regulation of leaving home and shopping, respiratory transmission cycle, social responsibility, principles of hand hygiene, nutritional hygiene and social distancing regulations; which explain 64/98% of the total variance.

The results of the study showed that the desired face validity of the questionnaire indicates the ease of understanding the items and their existential necessity from the point of view of the target community. The appropriate values of content validity, including the content validity index and the content validity ratio, also show that, from the point of view of experts, the questionnaire can measure what it should measure. Factor analysis also confirmed the correlation of the subscales with the whole instrument and the appropriate construct validity of the instrument. It also showed high values of internal homogeneity and stability of the designed questionnaire. In the Corona crisis and the period after it, as well as the possible outbreak of similar diseases in the future health service providers as well as policy makers in this area can use this questionnaire to check people's health behaviors and use its results in the design and implementation of preventive and care protocols.