Measurement properties of self-report pedestrians’ road crossing behavior questionnaires constructed based on the theory of planned behavior: protocol for a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Pedestrians’ unsafe crossing behavior exposes them at risk of trauma and death and puts a tremendous burden on the health care system. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is one of the leading theoretical models used to develop pedestrians’ road crossing behavior questionnaires, yet the quality of measurement properties of them has not been evaluated. The aim of the proposed systematic review is to evaluate the quality of measurement properties of the questionnaires constructed based on the TPB to predict pedestrians’ road crossing behavior. METHODS: We will include studies validating or evaluating one or more psychometric properties of the self-reported questionnaire employing the TPB for predicting pedestrians’ road crossing behavior. A comprehensive search strategy will be formulated based on the components of review aim. The databases of MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and ProQuest, also grey literature and the reference lists of the included studies, will be searched. A hand search for the relevant journals and Google Scholar will be conducted. COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) Risk of Bias checklist will be used to evaluate the measurement properties of the included questionnaires. First, we will assess standards for the methodological quality of each study. Then, each scale or subscale of a questionnaire will be rated using the updated criteria for good measurement property. We will quantitatively pool or qualitatively summarize the results and will evaluate them against the criteria for good measurement properties. Finally, we will grade the pooled or summarized evidence using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach and provide recommendations for the most appropriate instrument. DISCUSSION: The proposed systematic review will evaluate the measurement properties of self-report pedestrians’ road crossing behavior questionnaires constructed based on the TPB. The findings will help researchers in selecting the appropriate TPB-based instrument for pedestrians’ road crossing behavior. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42017047793 ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13643-019-1121-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.