Development and validation of the tool for the evaluation of the behavioral factors affecting the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in Iranian students

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted with the aim of developing a standard and valid questionnaire to evaluate the behavioral factors affecting musculoskeletal disorders among adolescent students based on the educational and ecological diagnosis phase of the PRECEDE model. METHODS: Based on the PRECEDE model and by using available resources and a panel of experts, a reservoir of items was proposed. The content validity of the questions was measured using content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). 400 Iranian first-year female high school students completed the questionnaire. The construct validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. RESULTS: The age range of study students was 13.69 ± 0.86 years. The final developed questionnaire included 25 items in three dimensions: knowledge (9 items), attitude (10 items) and enabling factors (6 items). The mean scores of CVI and CVR were 0.97 and 0.92, respectively. The results of CFA confirmed the three-factor structure of the questionnaire. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the dimensions of knowledge, attitude and enabling factors were 0.65, 0.80 and 0.71, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present questionnaire had appropriate psychometric properties and could be used as a valid tool in evaluating the factors affecting the development of musculoskeletal disorders among adolescent students.