Emerging Infectious Diseases Preventive Health Behavior (EID-PHB) scale: Turkish validity and reliability study

Emerging infectious diseases are infections that appear for the first time in a specific region or show a rapid increase in the frequency or geographical spread of a known agent. These diseases spread rapidly and pose serious public health threats that can lead to global loss of life. Adopting and promoting preventive health behaviors is crucial in combating these threats. However, the lack of scales that comprehensively assess these behaviors in the general population is noteworthy. The aim of this study is to test the validity and reliability of the preventive health behaviors scale developed for use in Turkish contexts related to emerging infectious diseases. In this psychometric study, the forward–backward translation method was applied in the translation of the scale from English into Turkish, and the content validity was assessed by 10 faculty members who are experts in their fields. The sample of the study consisted of 561 participants registered to a family health centre in a province in eastern Turkey, who met the study criteria and agreed to participate in the study. The construct validity of the scale was evaluated by Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Reliability was evaluated by internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The data were collected using the ‘Preventive Health Behaviours Scale for Emerging Infectious Diseases’ and ‘Personal Information Form’. After the language equivalence of the scale, the Content Validity Index was calculated and found to be 0.870. The Kaiser - Meyer - Olkin value was 0.895 and Bartlett’s test was statistically significant (χ2 = 3812.841, p < 0.001). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a seven-factor structure (30 items) explaining 68.739% of variance (loadings 0.492–0.822). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated acceptable fit (CMIN/DF = 3.037, RMSEA = 0.060, CFI = 0.906). Composite reliability was acceptable across factors (CR = 0.68–0.93). Convergent validity was adequate for most factors (AVE ≥ 0.50), with some factors below 0.50 indicating limited convergent validity. Internal consistency was high (α = 0.927). In this study, the Turkish validity and reliability of the Preventive Health Behaviours Scale for Emerging Infectious Diseases was determined to be a valid, reliable and psychometrically consistent assessment tool for the Turkish population.