Development and test of reliability and validity of the Health Belief Scale for Prostate Cancer Screening

Objective To develop the Health Belief Scale for Prostate Cancer Screening, and to examine its reliability and validity.Methods Based on the health belief model as the theoretical framework, and considering the literature review and the cultural context of China, a pre-test scale was developed after two rounds of expert consultations. A total of 284 inpatients in a tertiary general hospital in Wuhan were selected for investigation using convenience sampling, and the item analysis, reliability and validity test of the scale were carried out.Results The formal Health Belief Scale for Prostate Cancer Screening consist of 6 dimensions with a total of 27 items. The total Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.900, and the Cronbach's α coefficients of each dimension ranged from 0.769 to 0.913. The content validity index of the scale was 0.964, with the content validity indexes of each dimension ranging from 0.818 to 1.000. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 6 factors, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 69.782%.Conclusion The Health Belief Scale for Prostate Cancer Screening has good reliability and validity and can be used as a measure tool for health beliefs in prostate cancer screening.