Development and validation of social-cognitive theory based oral cancer awareness assessment tool for adolescents

Introduction: Creating oral cancer awareness among adolescents will bring change by modifying the risk factors responsible for oral cancer. Social cognitive theory (SCT) is one promising theory for developing oral cancer awareness programmes among school adolescents. However, data are limited on SCT-based intervention assessment in creating oral cancer awareness among rural community. To develop and validate a SCT-based Oral Cancer Awareness (SCT-OCA) assessment/survey tool for evaluation of intervention implementation. Material and Methods: A mixed method design encompassing both qualitative and quantitative was accomplished to develop and validate the assessment tool for rural setting. Methods and Material: Domains and items for SCT-OCA assessment tool for adolescents were selected using subject matter expert. A 21-item assessment tool was developed using three rounds of Delphi technique and validated using Lawshe method. The knowledge on oral cancer and its risk factors and key constructs of social-cognitive theory was selected as items of the tool. The final assessment tool was translated to regional language, which was used for evaluation of intervention implementation. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS, version 16. Descriptive statistics includes means, standard deviations and frequency. Validation using Lawshe, component factor analysis and Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated. Results: The overall content validity ratio was agreeable, and 21 items were finally selected in assessment tool. The overall Cronbach's alphas of 0.718 for survey was acceptable. The agreement was good for the domains of tool. Conclusions: This study developed the SCT-OCA assessment tool for intervention specifically designed for adolescents to measure oral cancer awareness.