Construction and validation of a questionnaire on the knowledge of healthy habits and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in schoolchildren

Objectives to develop and analyze the reliability and validity of a questionnaire on the knowledge of healthy habits and risk factors for cardiovascular disease (cardiokid) to be used in schoolchildren. methods the study included 145 children aged 7 to 11 years. the measured factors were the knowledge of healthy habits and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. cronbach's alpha and intra-class correlation coefficient (icc) were used to verify reliability,and exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the validity of the questionnaire. results the sample consisted of 60% females and 40% males. in factorial analysis,the kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo) test result was measures of sampling adequacy (msa) = 0.81 and bartlett's test of sphericity was x2 = (66) = 458.64 (p < 0.001). in the factorial analysis with varimax rotation,two dimensions were defined. the healthy habits dimension was composed of five factors (icc = 0.87 and α = 0.93) and the cardiovascular risk factors dimension was composed of seven factors (icc = 0.83 and α = 0.91). in the individual factor analysis,cronbach's alphas were between 0.93 and 0.91. total variance was 46.87%. there were no significant differences between test and retest applications. conclusion the questionnaire presented satisfactory validity and reliability (internal consistency and reproducibility),allowing for its use in children. © 2014 sociedade brasileira de pediatria.