Subhealth Risk Perception Scale: Development and Validation of a New Measure

Area of Science:

• Health Psychology
• Public Health Measurement
• Risk Perception Research

Background:

• Physical subhealth poses a significant public health challenge.
• Accurate assessment of individual risk perception is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a reliable and valid scale for measuring individual physical subhealth risk perception.
• To provide a practical tool for assessing health-related risk awareness.

Main Methods:

• Development of a questionnaire assessing physical subhealth risk perception.
• Application of statistical methods including Pearson correlation, polychoric factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, structural equation modeling, and general linear modeling.
• Participant recruitment through random sampling (n=770 valid responses).

Main Results:

• An 18-item scale with five dimensions (health knowledge, risk perception, trust selection, information channel, social groups) was finalized.
• The scale demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.889) and acceptable validity.
• Structural equation modeling confirmed good model fit indices.

Conclusions:

• The developed 18-item physical subhealth risk perception scale is reliable and valid.
• This scale offers a valuable tool for assessing individual health risk perception.
• Implementation of this scale can contribute to enhancing overall public health levels.