Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Journal of Research in Clinical Medicine 2717-0616 13 1 2025 01 01 WHO survey tool for behavioral insights on COVID-19: A psychometric study for translation, adaptation and content validity in Persian 34519 34519 10.34172/jrcm.025.34519 EN Ehsan Sarbazi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8190-9942 Alireza Razzaghi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1874-6364 Alireza Ansari Moghaddam https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3267-7193 Hamid Sharifi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9008-7618 Shahram Habibzadeh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0509-7369 Seyed Taghi Heydari Iraj Mohebbi Hassan Soleimanpour https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1311-4096 Mostafa Farahbakhsh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5754-7750 Mahdi Rezaei https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3711-6571 Mohammad Saadati https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3047-5624 Ali Jafari-Khounigh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4687-1904 Morteza Haghighy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7654-8123 Rasool Entezarmahdi Homayoun Sadeghi-Bazargani https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0396-8709 Journal Article 10.34172/jrcm.025.34519 2023 07 15 2024 03 25 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.