The validation of Persian version of the e-professionalism behaviors questionnaire among medical students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2021

Abstract

Social networks play an important role in various fields. There are different types of social platforms ; such as, Telegram, Whatsapp , etc. which have become so popular among healthcare workers. Some unprofessional behaviors of healthcare workers lead to researchers conducting researches regarding behavior of healthcare workers and students in social media. Therefore, a term called "e-professionalism" was coined, which indicates the evaluation of professional behavior in social media and social network.The aim of this study was validation of Persian version of the e-professionalism behaviors questionnaire among medical students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2021.

Method: The original questionnaire of e-professionalism , which was in English, was translated into Farsi with the Backward-Forward Translation method; that is to say, 2 translators (community medicine specialists) translated the questionnaire separately into Persian. The translations were compared and the differences were determined and resolved. The translation into English was done by a third translator (medical student) and compared with the original version. To check content validity, 4 criteria of relevance, simplicity, necessity, and transparency were used, and CVI and CVR were calculated for each. Cronbach's alpha was used to check the content reliability of the questionnaire, which was distributed among thirty students in two separate rounds.

Results: Cronbach's alpha measure obtained in the perception subscale is 0.697 and in the public access subscale is 0.747. The value of CVI is 1 according to the formula and calculations, and the value of CVR is 1. These numbers are evidence for validity and content reliability of the questionnaire. The questions of the questionnaire which were analyzed qualitatively, did not change significantly in two rounds of the study and the content of the answers were similar in both times. This also shows the appropriate validity and reliability of the translated questionnaire.