Development, Validation, and Cross Cultural Adoption of Persian Version of Behavioral Risk Factor Tool

One of the most crucial objectives of policymakers is to enhance the population's overall health. Establishing a surveillance system is a way to achieve this goal. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a national system that collects data on the health-related behaviors of the United States residents using the Behavioral Risk Factor Questionnaire (BRFSSQ). This survey is aimed at reducing risk behaviors and their consequences. Regarding the fact that the cultural environment within each country may affect how behaviors are assessed, this study aimed to develop a Persian version, cross-cultural adaptation, and assess the validity and reliability of the PBRFSSQ.

In this cross-sectional study, 250 individuals were enrolled using the stratified sampling method between August 2022 and April 2023. Six steps of translation and test method proposed by Sousa et al was used. Content and face validity were calculated. Also, the Cronbach's alpha and test-retest were computed.

Of all participants, 54.5% were male and aged 30 to 65 years old (69%). The Scale Content Validity Index was equal to 0.95. The Intra class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was computed as 0.86, 0.88, and 0.87 for the core, optional, and total components, respectively. Furthermore, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.85 was obtained overall.

This tool was highly valid and reliable for assessing risky behaviors among the Iranian general population.