Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to translate and validate the Osteoporosis Knowledge Assessment Tool (OKAT) for Bangla-speaking populations in Bangladesh by assessing its internal consistency, test-retest reliability, content validity, and construct validity. METHODS: This methodological validation study was conducted over 22 months in the Department of Rheumatology at Bangladesh Medical University, Dhaka. The study comprised two phases. The first phase included the translation of the OKAT questionnaire into Bangla (OKAT-Bangla), and the second phase included the psychometric validation of the OKAT-Bangla. A total of 126 individuals attending the study department were purposively selected as study participants. Data collection was conducted via a case record form. Each participant was subjected to a face‒to‒face interview followed by a retest after 1 week. To validate the OKAT-Bangla, internal consistency and reliability were tested along with content and construct validation. Statistical analysis was conducted via IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 23.0. RESULTS: In this study, OKAT-Bangla demonstrated internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha (α) of 0.636 and test‒retest reliability with a correlation coefficient (r) ranging from 0.55 to 0.94. Content validity was tested by expert rheumatologists, with an item-level content validation index of 1 and a scale-level content validation index of 1, indicating excellent relevancy. Principal component analysis revealed nine components with eigenvalues >1. The rotation sums of the squared loading variances ranged from 6.184% to 8.060%. These findings collectively establish the OKAT-Bangla as a valid instrument for measuring osteoporosis knowledge. CONCLUSION: The OKAT-Bangla is a valid, reliable, and culturally appropriate instrument for assessing osteoporosis knowledge in Bangla-speaking populations.