Objectives: We developed a questionnaire to measure the knowledge level of adults about risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and assessed its validity and reliability.
Inci Arikan, M.D., Selma Metintas, M.D., Cemalettin Kalyoncu, M.D., Zeki Y›ld›z, M.D.1
Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health,
Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Science and Literature, Statistics Department, Eskişehir
Objectives: We developed a questionnaire to measure the knowledge level of adults about risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and assessed its validity and reliability.
Study design: We developed the Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Knowledge Level (CARRF-KL) Scale in the light of literature data. It consisted of 28 items, questioning the features of CVD in the first four items, risk factors in 15 items, and the results of adopting a risk-free attitude in nine items. All the items were based on true/false statements, requiring a response in the form of “Yes”, “No” or “Don’t know”. To determine its validity and reliability, the scale was administered to 200 participants older than 20 years, of whom 144 individuals were involved in test-retest evaluations. Internal consistency was estimated using the Cronbach’s alpha. To determine the validity of the scale, individuals with CVD and/or family history were compared with those without CVD and/or family history.
Results: The rates of true responses varied between 44.5% and 96.5%. The mean score was 19.3±3.2 (range 5 to 27), and the median item-total correlation was 0.26 (range 0.13 to 0.51). The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) was 0.768. There was a strong positive correlation between the test and retest total scores (r=0.850; p=0.000). Individuals with CVD and/or family history had a significantly higher mean score than those without CVD and/or family history (20.2±3.1 vs 19.3±3.2; p=0.032).
Conclusion: In Turkey, CARRF-KL is the first scale developed to measure the knowledge level of individuals about risk factors for CVD, with good indices of validity and reliability.
Key words: Cardiovascular diseases; questionnaires; risk assessment; risk factors; validation studies as topic.
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