Validity and reliability of the Persian version of the sedentary behavior questionnaire among office employees

Abstract

Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the sedentary behavior questionnaire (SBQ) among university office employees in Kermanshah province in the west of Iran. Methods. A validation study was performed among 701 university office employees in Kermanshah province. The content validation process was conducted using interviews with content and lay experts. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated as test-retest reliability. In addition, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the validity of the questionnaire structure. Results. The scale content validity indices using two general agreement approaches and the mean approach were 88.88 and 97.77%, respectively. The ICC was estimated at 1.00 (95% confidence interval [0.99, 1.00]). The exploratory factor analyses suggested nine-factor solutions, and in the independent sample the confirmatory factor analysis fit indices showed that the model had acceptable fit to the data. Conclusion. The Persian version of the SBQ had acceptable reliability and validity for assessing sedentary behavior (SB) among office employees. This questionnaire is a simple and self-report tool for measuring SB in daily life and would be useful in the design and evaluation of preventive programs among administrative staff and for high-risk population surveillance.

Keywords: employees; questionnaire; reliability; sedentary behavior; validity.