UNLABELLED

Lifestyle medicine (LM) should be incorporated as part of routine clinical work and medical education programs.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and test the validity and reliability of a questionnaire that measures the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of LM domains among medical trainees through practicing physicians.

METHODS

The KAP questionnaire sections covered the nine domains of LM. The validation process included face and content validity. A total of 151 individuals from the medical field residing in Saudi Arabia were recruited through a convenient sampling technique to participate in the study. Item response theory (IRT) was applied to validate the knowledge domain, while exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to assess attitude and practice. Cronbach's alpha was performed to test the reliability of the three sections.

RESULTS

The questionnaire contained 37 items of knowledge, 45 attitudes, and 28 practice items. According to the IRT analysis, 27 items of knowledge were within the acceptable range of difficulty and discrimination. The EFA analysis resulted in 6 factors, including all the items in the attitude domain, and 4 factors, for a total of 27 items in the practice domain, with satisfactory factor loading (>0.4). The Cronbach's alpha for the three domains was very high (≥0.88).

CONCLUSIONS

The KAP questionnaire for LM is valid and reliable across a spectrum, from medical trainees to practicing physicians. This tool could serve as an instrument to evaluate and develop adequate educational programs for medical doctors.