The assessment of the reliability and validity of a health risk appraisal for a college population

The purpose of the study was to assess the reliability and validity of a health risk appraisal for a college population. The health risk appraisal examined by this study was the College Wellness Check, developed by the Rhode Island Health Department.

The data were collected using a computerized health risk appraisal questionnaire. The sample consisted of 168 male and female college students in a General Education Psychology course at Middle Tennessee State University. The College Wellness Check program was used to obtain the descriptive statistics relating to gender, race and percentages of specific health risk factors. The statistical package SPSSx was used to determine the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient for the reliability test-retest. To determine content validity a survey questionnaire was sent to a jury of 30 health professionals. Twenty-one of thirty were returned and a percentage of agreement method was used to determine content validity.

The major findings in the study include: (1) the instrument was found to have a high reliability coefficient of .92; (2) the instrument was found to have a high level (96.2%) of content validity.

The following conclusion was drawn from the findings of the study: (1) the Health Risk Appraisal instrument College Wellness Check is a valid and reliable instrument to use with a college population.

The significance of the study is that this research is a major step toward establishing reliability and validity on a Health Risk Appraisal.