Development and validation of a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) Questionnaire on Ahara Vidhi Vidhana (Ayurvedic Dietary Guidelines)

Background: Dietary regimens contribute to the health of people in both Ayurveda and contemporary public health. Ayurvedic science recognizes Ahara (Food) as essential fundamental principle. Although biomedical field advances, there is a need for attention towards nutrition and dietary guidelines to improve global health and to provide a preventive approach towards Non-Communicable Diseases. Objective: To develop and validate Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) questionnaire on Ahara Vidhi Vidhana for assessing dietary behaviors and ultimately promoting preventive health. Methodology: The cross-sectional methodological study was conducted in three phases. Phase I includes item generation through literature review and from expert input. Phase II was content and face validation using expert evaluation and a pilot study with validity measured by Item-level and Scale-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI, S-CVI). Phase III assessed reliability through internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha values ≥ 0.7 indicating acceptable range of internal consistency reliability. Construct validity was evaluated using Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient test. Results: Final version of questionnaire comprised of total 57 items distributed across 11 domains, subdivided into three subscales: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice. Overall Scale-level Content Validity Index (S-CVI) was 0.91, indicating acceptable content validity. Internal consistency reliability was satisfactory with overall Cronbach’s alpha of 0.75. Subscale reliability coefficients were 0.81 for Knowledge, 0.755 for Attitude and 0.717 for Practice. Construct validity was acceptable collectively with convergent and divergent validity. Conclusion: The Knowledge Attitude and Practice Questionnaire on Ahara Vidhi Vidhana is a newly developed and validated tool for assessment and evaluation of dietary KAP among working women. Its use in clinical as well as other research can help to evaluate education to improve dietary practices as explained by Ahara Vidhi Vidhana. Future studies should focus on including different populations and incorporate test-retest reliability to ensure stability of the tool