Development, validation, and reliability of a questionnaire to assess risk-factors of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology.

Background: Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) is an emerging global health issue, yet research on risk factors is limited. This study addresses the gap by developing, validating, and evaluating the reliability of a questionnaire to assess the risk factors of CKDu.

Methods: A draft version of the questionnaire was prepared based on thorough literature review and experts' discussion. Six experts validated it for content validity, incorporating items with an item level content validity index ≥ 0.78. The reliability of the developed questionnaire was assessed using the test-retest method. Sample size for reliability was calculated using a tool by ArifinWN; 2018. Subjects were recruited by purposive sampling after obtaining informed consent. Data were analysed for reliability using Statistical-Package for the Social-Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.

Results: A 10-domain questionnaire was developed to assess CKDu risk factors. Six experts, comprised of three associate professors, two nephrologists and one renal pharmacist, validated the questionnaire. All items had an item level content validity index > 0.78, and the scale level content validity index of the questionnaire was 0.98. The questionnaire was administered to 165 subjects with a mean age of 50.65 ± 12.5 years, comprising 53.9% males. Most of them were labourers (38.2%) followed by farmers (21.8%). Among the risk factors, 57% of subjects were exposed to long hours of sunlight during work, 52.7% burned garbage waste and 46.1% were exposed to insecticides and pesticides. The questionnaire was re-administered after two weeks for reliability. All items under each domain fulfilled the minimum internal consistency of > 0.7.

Conclusions: The questionnaire demonstrated its validity and reliability in assessing the risk factors of CKDu among the subjects.