Test-Retest Reproducibility of the WebCas Electronic Questionnaire for Assessing Health-Related Behaviors in Adolescents

Abstract

Purpose: The goal of the study was to evaluate the reproducibility between the application-replication of the electronic version of the WebCas questionnaire. Methods: The sample consisted of 152 students (10 to 15 years old) of both sexes, enrolled in a public school in the city of Curitiba (PR). Anthropometric data (weight and height) were collected to calculate the body mass index. The reproducibility of the questionnaire was assessed by means of concordance between the repeated measures obtained by applying the WebCas, with a 7-day interval between applications. Results: Most of the variables showed percentages of reproducibility above 50% (7/12 variables). Eight variables presented Kappa values considered “very good”: commuting to school (K=0.95); alcohol intake in the last 30 days (K=0.92); alcohol intake in doses (K=0.92); smoking (K=0.93); intoxication (K=0.92), nap (K=0.83), illness (K=0.94) and medication use (K=0.90). Daytime sleepiness, frequency of consumption of fruits, vegetables, sweets, snacks and soft drinks showed “moderate” Kappa values (0.41 to 0.65). Regarding accuracy, the variables hours of sleep, time to wake up on weekdays and bedtime on weekdays showed substantial values (>0.95 to <0.99). For the other variables, the values were almost perfect (≥0.99), with the exception of the variable “bedtime the night before” which showed low accuracy (Cb=0.90). Conclusion: The results showed that the WebCas questionnaire showed satisfactory evidence of reproducibility.