Abstract
BACKGROUND: Designing cancer prevention programs needs information on knowledge, attitude, and practice of the community. Unfortunately, this information is not available in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed a questionnaire (NUTCANKAPQ) to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian women regarding cancer prevention dietary habits. We recruited women who had referred to public health-care centers in Tehran, Iran. To assess validity, we applied face, content, and construct validity methods. We performed test-retest approaches to assess reliability, and internal consistency of the questionnaire was assessed through Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). RESULTS: Qualitative content validity was carried out by an expert panel, and internal consistency was deemed satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha, >0.6). We also observed high reliability in the questionnaire (ICC = 0.85). The mean (± standard deviation) scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice of study participants were 28.3 (±14.1), 67.1 (±18.9), and 53.7 (±8.3), respectively. The result of exploratory factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), implied that the model was reasonably fit (KMO > 0.6). The final questionnaire included seventy items. CONCLUSION: NUTCANKAPQ is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of cancer-related nutrition knowledge, attitude, and practice among the Iranian population. Application of NUTCANKAPQ may provide important clues for policy-making and improvement of cancer prevention programs among the Iranian population.