Researchers created and tested a new questionnaire called the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI-20) to measure how well Iranian women take care of their health. The tool asks questions about eating habits, stress management, using healthcare services, and avoiding harmful substances. After testing it with 265 women, scientists found that the questionnaire is reliable and accurate—meaning it gives consistent results and truly measures what it’s supposed to measure. This tool could help doctors and health workers better understand and support women’s health choices.
The Quick Take
- What they studied: Whether a new health behavior questionnaire (HBI-20) works well for measuring how Iranian women take care of their health
- Who participated: 265 Iranian women who completed the questionnaire
- Key finding: The questionnaire is reliable and accurate, with strong consistency scores (0.902 overall) and stable results when repeated, suggesting it’s a trustworthy tool for measuring health behaviors
- What it means for you: If you’re an Iranian woman or healthcare provider, this tool may help identify which health areas need improvement—like diet, stress management, healthcare use, or substance use—though this is primarily useful for health professionals and researchers rather than individual use
The Research Details
Researchers took an existing health behavior questionnaire and adapted it into Persian (the language spoken in Iran) for Iranian women. They then tested it with 265 women to make sure it worked properly. The researchers used two main testing methods: first, they looked at the overall structure of the questions to see if they grouped together logically (like all diet questions together), and second, they tested the same women twice to see if they got similar answers both times. They also compared the results to another well-known health questionnaire to make sure both tools were measuring similar things.
The questionnaire has 20 questions divided into four main areas: what you eat, how you handle anger and stress, how you use healthcare services and prevent illness, and whether you use harmful substances. This structure makes sense because these are the main ways people take care of their health.
This type of study is important because having a reliable tool in a person’s own language means doctors and researchers can better understand health behaviors in different communities and cultures.
Having a trustworthy health behavior questionnaire in Persian is important because health advice and tools need to work for the specific culture and language of the people using them. A questionnaire that works well in English might not work the same way in Persian because of language differences and cultural differences in how people think about health. This tool can now be used by Iranian healthcare providers and researchers to better understand and help women improve their health.
The study shows several signs of quality: the questionnaire had very good internal consistency (0.902), meaning the questions reliably measure what they’re supposed to measure; test-retest reliability was strong (0.703-0.853), meaning people got similar answers when asked the same questions again; the four-factor structure was confirmed through statistical testing; and the results matched up with another established health questionnaire. However, this study only tested the tool’s reliability and structure—it didn’t test whether using this questionnaire actually helps improve women’s health outcomes over time.
What the Results Show
The questionnaire successfully organized into four clear categories: Diet (eating habits), Anger and Stress (emotional health), Proper Use of Health Care Resources and Preventive Self-Care (using doctors and preventing illness), and Substance Use (avoiding harmful substances). These four categories together explained about 52% of the variation in how women answered the questions, which is a reasonable amount.
When researchers tested the same women twice, the answers were very similar both times, showing the tool is stable and reliable. The Diet category had the strongest consistency (0.840), followed by Proper Use of Health Care Resources (0.853), Substance Use (0.703), and Anger and Stress (0.781). All of these scores indicate good reliability.
The overall questionnaire had excellent internal consistency (0.902), meaning all 20 questions work together well to measure health behaviors. When compared to another established health questionnaire, the HBI-20 results matched up well, confirming it measures what it’s supposed to measure.
These results suggest the Persian version of the HBI-20 is a solid, dependable tool for measuring health behaviors in Iranian women.
The study confirmed that each of the four categories (diet, stress, healthcare use, and substance use) measures something distinct and important about health behavior. The questionnaire’s structure held up well under statistical testing, meaning the way questions were grouped together made sense. The tool also showed good agreement with a different, well-established health questionnaire, which adds confidence that it’s measuring real health behaviors rather than something unrelated.
This study adapted an existing health behavior questionnaire for use in Persian with Iranian women. The original questionnaire had been used in other populations, but this is the first time it was properly tested and validated for Iranian women specifically. The strong results here suggest that the questionnaire works just as well in Persian as it does in other languages, though the specific health behaviors that matter most may differ between cultures.
The study only tested whether the questionnaire is reliable and measures what it claims to measure—it didn’t test whether using this tool actually helps women improve their health. The study included only 265 women, so results might be slightly different with a larger group. The study also only included Iranian women, so the results may not apply to women in other countries or cultures. Additionally, the questionnaire explains about 52% of health behavior variation, meaning other factors not captured by these 20 questions also influence health behaviors.
The Bottom Line
Healthcare providers and researchers in Iran can confidently use this questionnaire to measure and understand women’s health behaviors (moderate to high confidence). The tool appears reliable for tracking health habits in diet, stress management, healthcare use, and substance use. However, this questionnaire should be used alongside other health assessments and professional judgment, not as the only measure of health.
This tool is most useful for Iranian healthcare providers, doctors, researchers, and public health programs working with Iranian women. It may be less relevant for women in other countries unless the questionnaire is adapted and tested for their specific language and culture. Individual women might find it helpful if a healthcare provider suggests using it, but it’s primarily designed for healthcare professionals and researchers rather than self-assessment.
The questionnaire provides immediate feedback about current health behaviors when completed. However, seeing actual health improvements from addressing the behaviors identified by this tool typically takes weeks to months, depending on which behaviors are changed and how consistently changes are made.
Want to Apply This Research?
- Users could complete the HBI-20 questionnaire monthly and track their scores in each of the four categories (Diet, Anger and Stress, Healthcare Use, and Substance Use) to see which areas improve over time and which need more attention
- Based on questionnaire results, users could set specific goals in their lowest-scoring category—for example, if stress management scores are low, the app could suggest daily stress-reduction activities and track completion; if diet scores are low, the app could track meals and nutrition
- Complete the full questionnaire every 3 months to measure overall progress, while tracking specific daily behaviors (meals logged, stress management activities completed, healthcare appointments scheduled) in the app between questionnaire completions to see which daily habits drive score improvements
This research describes a tool for measuring health behaviors and does not provide medical advice or treatment recommendations. The HBI-20 questionnaire is designed for use by healthcare professionals and researchers, not for self-diagnosis. If you have health concerns, please consult with a qualified healthcare provider. This tool measures current health behaviors but does not diagnose medical conditions. Results should be discussed with a healthcare professional who can provide personalized guidance based on your individual health situation.
This research translation is published by Gram Research, the science division of Gram, an AI-powered nutrition tracking app.