The Validity and Reliability of Health Belief Scale for Testicular Cancer Self-Examination

Abstract

This study aimed to create a measurement tool for the determination of university students’ health beliefs about testicular cancer (TC) and self-examination. This is a methodological and cross-sectional study. The study sample included 425 university students. Consents and approvals were obtained from the relevant institutions and the ethics committee prior to the research. The data were collected using an interview form that included questions about descriptive characteristics, family history of TC, and knowledge, beliefs, and practice of self-examination. The health belief model including 41 questions about self-examination and the interview form were administered to the students in their classrooms at a suitable time. Principal components analysis and varimax rotation were used for the examination of the structures of the factors. Accordingly, factor patterns, self-values, and the variance percentages they explained were evaluated. The average age of the participants is 22.2 ± 2.3 (min = 17; max = 40). Of them, 98.8% of the participants are single (n = 420). Of them, 56.2% have heard about TC before, and 18.4% said they were informed about TC. Factor loading of the items in the first factor was 0.64 to 0.89, while it was 0.48 to 0.75 for the items in the second factor, 0.50 to 0.87 for the items in the third factor, 0.37 to 0.68 for the items in the fourth factor, 0.51 to 0.68 for the items in the fifth factor, and 0.65 to 0.79 for the items in the sixth factor. The health belief model scale may be used in TC screenings for males to measure susceptibility, seriousness, health motivation, barriers, benefits, and self-efficacy.