Development of an Instrument based on the Protection Motivation Theory to Measure Factors Influencing Women’s Intention to First Pap Test Practice

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Given that there are many Iranian women who have never had a Pap smear, this study wasdesigned to develop and validate a measurement tool based on the Protection Motivation Theory to assessfactors influencing the Iranian women’s intention to perform first Pap testing. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: In thispsychometric research, to determine the Content Validity Index (CVI) and the Content Validity Ratio (CVR),a panel of experts (n=10) reviewed scale items. Reliability was estimated through the Intraclass CorrelationCoefficient (n=30) and internal consistency (n=240). Also, factor analysis (exploratory and conformity) wasperformed on the data of the sample women who had never had a Pap smear test (n=240). <br/><b>Results</b>: A 26-itemquestionnaire was developed. The CVI and CVR scores of the scale were 0.89 and 0.90, respectively. Exploratoryfactor analysis loaded a 26-item with seven factors questionnaire (perceived vulnerability and severity, fear,response costs, response efficacy, self–efficacy, and protection motivation (or intention)) that jointly accountedfor 72.76% of the observed variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit for the data. Internalconsistency (range 0.70-0.93) and test-retest reliability (range 0.72-0.96) of sub-scales were acceptable.<br/><b>Conclusions</b>: This study showed that the designed instrument was a valid and reliable tool for measuring thefactors influencing the women’s intention to perform their first Pap testing.