Risk Perception on Cardiovascular Disease Among Adults in Rural Population in Malaysia: A Pilot Study on Translation and Validation of the Risk and Health Behaviour Questionnaire.

Introduction: Perception of cardiovascular disease among adults in Malaysia has not been studied until re- cently. Risk perception is an important component to bring about changes to unhealthy lifestyle practices. This study aims to translate, validate and measure the psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Methods: A modified Risk and Health Behaviour Questionnaire was administered to 30 respondents aged between 30-70 years. The questionnaire had been back-to-back translated into Bahasa Malaysia by a local translator with advice from ex- perts. Reliability was assessed using corrected item-total correlation and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: The scale has high value for Cronbach's alpha (α=0.972). Each item correlates well with total scale since all the indi- vidual items have values of more than 0.3. Item no 12 has the lowest value for Corrected Item-Total Correlation but deletion of this item does not change the Alpha value. Conclusion: The translated version of the Risk and Health Behaviour Questionnaire has high reliability and good internal consistency. This questionnaire is as reliable as its original version.