Ab. No. 78 Validation of a Retrospective Injury Questionnaire for Competitive Indian Athletes

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of the current study is to develop and validate a new questionnaire for measuring Injuries (Present acute, Present overuse, Past acute, and Past overuse) among Competitive Indian Athletes. Measuring injuries is a preliminary step of any epidemiological project. Though vast scientific literature on injury measurements and questionnaire development is available, work done among Indian athletes is negligible. Recording injury-related data in forms or questionnaires is a common data collection practice. Developing a new questionnaire becomes necessary when existing ones cannot cover the research area of interest. Methods: 10 experts were recruited for the validation study and 50 subjects were recruited for questionnaire administration. A Delphi panel consensus study was conducted to validate an initial 126-item questionnaire by recruiting 10 experts. After two rounds, a 125-item questionnaire was obtained that was administered to 50 track and road runners (ages 15-35 years) practicing at Dharamshala. Athletes preparing for army or forest services, para-athletes, and those who did not have working smartphones were excluded. The data obtained was cleaned and coded for further analysis. The content validity ratio (CVR) score for each item was calculated to finalize the final items. To test the internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated. Results: The final questionnaire had an overall alpha value of 0.812 indicating an adequate internal consistency. Conclusion: The newly generated retrospective injury questionnaire for Indian athletes is valid and reliable. Implications: The application of the questionnaire on a wider population can give an estimated injury incidence and prevalence data in the country.