Development of Data Collection Instruments for Assessing and Monitoring of Nutritional issues and Weight loss Practices of Wrestlers in Iran

Nutritional issues and weight loss practices have been major concern in wrestling. there are some published data from works on the us wrestlers in this area. however to our knowledge there is no information about these issues among wrestlers in other countries. lack of data in this area may cause some limitations in the planning of local and international preventive programs such as wrestling rules and regulation. a major limitation to conduct this kind of research is availability of a valid and reliable questionnaire. the objectives of this study were to develop and to evaluate validity and reliability of a questionnaire for assessment and monitoring of nutritional issues and weight loss practices of wrestlers in iran. a questionnaire was developed based on published literature and existing data collection instruments as well as interviews with some experts in iran. the questionnaire designed to provide information which could be employed to plan preventive measures. it covers several areas such as rate of weight loss practice, belief of wrestlers about weight loss, methods used in both rapid and gradually weight loss, side effects of weight loss, needs for education in this area, consumption of supplements and vitamins and specific dietary regime used by wrestlers. to evaluate the validity of the questionnaire, it was reviewed by a panel of experts in iran including some team physicians, coaches, and wrestlers. in the second phase, a pilot study was performed on 30 wrestlers in two clubs in tehran. the objectives of this pilot study were to assess the feasibility and acceptability of protocol and questionnaire and also to evaluate that the questions are understandable. the questionnaire was improved based on the result of the pilot study. in the next phase, a test-re-test was performed on 40 wrestlers in three clubs in tehran to measure the reliability of the second draft of questionnaire. the result showed that the questionnaire is valid and reliable and can be employed to evaluate nutritional issues and weight loss practices of wrestlers in iran.