Ehsan Sarbazi
1 
, Alireza Razzaghi
2 , Alireza Ansari Moghaddam
3 , Hamid Sharifi
4 , Shahram Habibzadeh
5 , Seyed Taghi Heydari
6, Iraj Mohebbi
7, Hassan Soleimanpour
8 , Mostafa Farahbakhsh
9 , Mahdi Rezaei
1 , Mohammad Saadati
10 , Ali Jafari-Khounigh
1 , Morteza Haghighy
11 , Rasool Entezarmahdi
12, Homayoun Sadeghi-Bazargani
13* 1 Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
2 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
3 Health Promotion Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Science, Zahedan, Iran
4 HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
5 Department of Infectious Disease, Ardebil University of Medical Science, Ardebil, Iran
6 Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran
7 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Occupational Medicine Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
8 Emergency Medicine Research Team, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
9 Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
10 Department of Public Health, Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Khoy, Iran
11 Department of Public Health, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
12 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
13 Research Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, Iranian EBM Centre: A Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Center of Excellence, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Different instruments are employed to assess public behavior and understanding of COVID-19. The World Health Organization Survey Tool for Behavioral Insights on COVID-19 (WHO-STBIC) is an appealing and adaptable instrument for evaluating population behavioral insights. This research sought to translate, adapt, and content validate the Persian version of WHO-STBIC.
Methods: Forward-backward translation of the English WHO-STBIC to Persian was done by four English language experts. The back-translated version was compared with the original version and disagreements were resolved by a team encompassing four translators and two experts in the field. To investigate the content validity of the preliminary Persian version, nine experts were invited to assess the tool through a content validity form. The internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha.
Results: A shortened through adaptation version Persian version of WHO-STBIC (90 items in 17 subscales) was derived with minor adaptations from the original version. In terms of content validity, the modified kappa (mK) index was calculated as excellent for 86 percent (n=78) of items (mK>0.9). The mean Content validity Index (CVI) of the whole scale was 0.87 ranging from 0.46 to 0.86 for 17 subscales. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to be 0.86.
Conclusion: The Persian version of WHO-STBIC was adapted and validated with minimum modifications to be used in Iran. It was hard to say that this tool is a fast one. So, the shortened through adaptation Persian version was developed. Researchers can use these tools to ensure culturally appropriate, relevant, valid, and reliable data collection.