Development and psychometric assessment of the public health emergency risk perception scale: Under the outbreak of COVID-19

OBJECTIVE: Correctly understanding and evaluating the level of public risk perception toward public health emergencies not only helps experts and decision-makers understand the public’s preventative health behaviors to these emergencies but also enhances their risk information communication with the public. The aim of this study was to develop a risk perception scale for public health emergencies and test its validity and reliability during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: Guided by the theoretical model of risk perception, an initial scale was generated through literature review, group meetings, resident interviews, and expert consultation. A pretest and item screening were then conducted to develop a formal risk perception scale for public health emergencies. Finally, the reliability and validity of the scale were validated through a questionnaire survey of 504 Chinese adults. RESULTS: The final scale had 9 items. The content validity index of the scale was 0.968, and the content validity index of individual items ranged from 0.83 to 1.00. Three common factors, dread risk perception, severe risk perception, and unknown risk perception, were extracted for exploratory factor analysis, and together they explained 66.26% of the variance in the score. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model had a satisfactory fit, where χ(2)/df = 1.384, the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.989, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.028, root mean square residual (RMR) = 0.018, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.995, normed fit index (NFI) = 0.982, and non-normed fit index (NNFI) = 0.990. The correlations between dimensions ranged from 0.306 to 0.483 (P < 0.01). Cronbach’s α was 0.793 for the total scale and ranged between 0.687 and 0.801 for the individual dimensions. The split-half coefficient was 0.861 for the total scale and ranged from 0.727 to 0.856 for induvial dimensions. The test-retest coefficient was 0.846 for the total scale and ranged from 0.843 to 0.868 for induvial dimensions. CONCLUSION: The developed scale for the risk perception of public health emergencies showed acceptable levels of reliability and validity, suggesting that it is suitable for evaluating residents’ risk perception of public health emergencies.