Journal of School of Public Health and

---

Background and Aim: Considering the social and cultural characteristics of Iranian adolescents, none of the quantitative instruments designed so far to assess their health needs is quite appropriate. The purpose of this study was to design a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess the health needs of Iranian adolescent females.

Materials and Methods: Both qualitative and quantitative approaches to instrument development were adopted in this study conducted in the District of Sari in the north of Iran. Sampling was objective-based, with an attempt to have female adolescent sample as varied as possible. In the qualitative phase, a content analysis approach was used to explore the concept of health needs as seen by female adolescents. Data were collected using 8 focus group discussions (FGDs) with the presence 6-10 adolescents 12-18 years old in each FGD, as well as 11 semi-structured interviews, each one involving 11 well-informed individuals. In the quantitative phase, the psychometric properties, including content validity, face validity, construct validity, concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability, were determined.

Results: Five themes were identified in the qualitative phase of study, including psycho-emotional health, social health, physical health, and educational needs, as well as spiritual beliefs. The mean scale-level content validity index (S-CVI) was found to be 0.92. The factor structure of the instrument was identified by doing a Principal Component Analysis. Five factors were extracted with a total variance account of 45.37%. The reliability and consistency of the instrument were established with the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.90) for the entire scale and test-retest reliability with a 2 week-interval Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC=0.984, p<0.001).There was a concurrent correlation between the instrument and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL TM 4.0) (r=0.66, p<0.001).

Conclusion: The instrument developed in this study is a valid, reliable and culturally appropriate instrument for assessment of health needs of Iranian adolescent females. 

---

Background and Aim: Cancer is the third cause of mortality in Iran, killing more than 30000 persons annually. The Motivation Theory is a useful approach for predicting and planning intervention programs to change behaviors related to cancer prevention and early detection. Considering the absence of a valid and reliable protection motivation theory questionnaire for cancer early detection in Iran, this study was conducted to design such a questionnaire and assess its psychometric properties in Yazd

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was designed based on similar questionnaires currently in use and its validity and reliability were determined. The reliability coefficients were calculated by Cronbach α and intraclass correlation coefficients. To determine the validity of the scale, two methods were used, namely, face validity and content validity. Confirmation factor analysis was used to determine factorial validity using Amous 21 software .

Results: The CVR for all items of the questionnaire, CVI, ICC and internal consistency of the questionnaire were found to be 1, 0.97-1.0, 0.71-0.98, and 0.65-0.93, respectively. The confirmation factor analysis revealed that the questionnaire fitted the Iranian population. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the questionnaire constructs varied between 0.71-0.98 and 0.65-0.93

Conclusion: The validity and reliability of the Persian version of PMT scale for cancer early detection are acceptable and suitable, so it can be used in similar research.

---

Background and Aim: Currently there is no standardized and validated questionnaire for assessing the care of danger signs in children less than 5 years by the mothers based on behavioral patterns. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate psychometrically an instrument for assessment of the care of danger signs in children less than 5 years old by the mothers based on the Health Belief Model.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 350 mothers in the City of Arak, Iran. After reviewing the related literature, an instrument was designed and its content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI) and face validity were measured. To measure the reliability of the scales, the internal consistency method was used. Data analysis was done using the SPSS software.

Results: The scores of the CVI and CVR of the 81 items were found to be 0.79 and 0.62, respectively, the items being classified into seven categories. Based on the Cronbach's alpha, the overall reliability was 0.86. The reliability of the questionnaire for checklists of performance was 0.99, followed by those of perceived benefits (0.90), severity (0.83), perceived barriers (0.68), knowledge (0.66), perceived susceptibility (0.65), self-efficacy (0.63), and cues to action (0.56). Conclusion: The output of this psychometric process study is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring symptoms of risk behaviors in the care of vulnerable children based on the health belief model constructs, which can be used in health sciences research aiming at helping to protect the health of children.

---

Background and Aim: Delays in childbearing, in addition to creating health risks for the mother and the child, may lead to permanent parental bereavement. The purpose of this study was psychometric assessment of the validity and reliability of the Iranian version of attitude toward reproductive and childbearing inventory (ATRCI) in women without a history of pregnancy.
Materials and Methods: This study was done on 235 women without a history of pregnancy selected by multi-stage sampling in the South of Iran. They completed a fertility and childbearing attitude questionnaire. The validity and reliabilty of the ATRCI were determined using SPSS-16 software, the statitical tests being Cronbach's alpha coefficient and exploratory factor analysis.
Results: The mean age of the women was 24.47 ± 4.1 years, and the Cronbach's alpha total coefficient was 0.888. The KMO and Bartlett's test of sphericity value (0.890) was  significant.
In this study, in addition to the main components of the questionnaire, the childbirth postponement component was also extracted; they explained  63.01% of the total variance related the attitude toward fertility and childbearing. 
Conclusion:  The 4-component Iranian version of the attitude toward fertility and childbearing inventory was found to have acceptable psychometric validity and reliability. It is recommended that in the future studies this inventory be used in intervantional studies and heath and demographic programs for women without a history of pregnancy.