Translation, cultural adaptation and assessment of psychometric properties of the CarMen-Q mental workload questionnaire in Persian language speaking people

BackgroundMental workload is known to significantly impact performance and can potentially result in human error, stress, fatigue, and job dissatisfaction. Questionnaires serve as accessible, easy, and valid tools for measuring mental workload.ObjectiveThis study translated, culturally adapted the CarMen-Q mental workload questionnaire into Persian and evaluated its psychometric properties in Persian workers.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was designed according to the COSMIN checklist. A Persian-speaking population (n = 296, age 38.59 ± 7.61 years, male = 66.2%) was recruited from four industrial and administrative sectors of glass and carton packing companies. Psychometric properties assessed in this study encompassed face validity, content validity, construct validity through correlation with NASA-TLX questionnaire, structural validity; additionally, test-retest reliability (ICC value); and internal consistency (Cronbach's α).ResultsDuring the translation and adaptation process, minor modifications were identified and made in four items. The Content Validity Index values for each of the items (0.71-1) and its total score (0.914) were acceptable. Internal consistency for the subscales were > 0.8, and the test-retest reliability was ICC _(2,1)= 0.90 (95% CI 0.84-0.94). Construct validity showed a moderate to good correlation between the CarMen-Q and NASA task load index NASA-TLX subscales (r = 0.42-0.53). The exploratory factor analysis demonstrated a four-factor structure that explained 47.14% of total variance. No floor/ceiling effects were found except for the performance subscale.ConclusionsThe Persian CarMen-Q mental workload questionnaire demonstrated strong reliability and validity, rendering it potentially suitable for measuring mental workload in Iranian workers across various task conditions.