Design and Evaluating Psychometric Properties of the Eye Care Behaviors Assessment Instrument

Rahmat Chatripour; Awat Feizi; Fereshteh Zamani-Alavijeh; Afsaneh Naderi Beni; Maryam Amidi Mazaheri

doi:10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_181_22

Design and Evaluating Psychometric Properties of the Eye Care Behaviors Assessment Instrument

Int J Prev Med. 2023 Mar 21:14:35. doi: 10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_181_22. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Rahmat Chatripour¹, Awat Feizi², Fereshteh Zamani-Alavijeh³, Afsaneh Naderi Beni⁴, Maryam Amidi Mazaheri⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Education and Promotion Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
² Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
³ Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine AND Eye Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁵ Departments of Health Education and Promotion, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Eye health is essential for quality-of-life. The present study aimed to design an eye care behaviors assessment instrument for the student community and evaluate its psychometric properties.

Methods: The present mixed-method cross-sectional study was conducted in two sections using Creswell and Plano Clark methods for instrument development. The study was conducted in Isfahan, Iran, in 2021. The first section (textual analysis and qualitative research) explained and developed the instrument's fundamental items. This section included in-depth, semistructured interviews with 21 students and eight experts. The second section measured the psychometric properties of the instrument. Twenty students assessed the instrument's qualitative and quantitative face validity in this section. The instrument's content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were evaluated. In addition, exploratory factor analysis (performed by 251 students) was used to establish construct validity. Internal and test-retest reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), respectively.

Results: During face and content validity assessment, a 37-item questionnaire was finalized. Exploratory factor analysis led to the identification of three factors, including "examinations and glasses-related behaviors," "symptom-related behaviors," and "screen-related behaviors." The three extracted factors accounted for 37.9% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha was equal to 0.874 when evaluating internal consistency, and the ICC value for the total score of the questionnaire was 0.885 (0.810-0.941), indicating excellent test-retest reliability.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate the questionnaire's validity and reliability. This instrument assesses the prevalence of university students' most significant eye health risk behaviors. Consequently, it helps prevent eye problems.

Keywords: Eyes; psychometric; self-care; students.