Abstract: Objective To develop a questionnaire of protective motivation for uric acid management in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia and to test the reliability and validity. Methods Guided by the theory of protective motivation, the preliminary questionnaire was prepared by literature analysis, semi-structured interview, Delphi expert consultation and pre-survey. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were tested by consulting 16 experts and investigating 318 patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia. Results The final questionnaire of protective motivation for uric acid management in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia consisted of 7 dimensions, with 34 items in total. The overall content validity index (S-CVI) of the questionnaire was 0.832, and the item-level content validity index (I-CVI) 0.814~1. The total Cronbach α coefficient was 0.833, and the Cronbach α coefficient of each dimension ranged from 0.782 to 0.845. The total split-half reliability was 0.819, and the split-half reliability of each dimension ranged from 0.729 to 0.825. The combined reliability coefficients ranged from 0.793 to 0.865. Seven common factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis, which explained 72.227% of the variation. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that χ²/df=1.503, RMSEA=0.049, RMR=0.026, CFI=0.919, GFI=0.862, AGFI=0.875, IFI=0.921, TLI=0.910, and the model fit was good. Conclusion The questionnaire has good reliability and validity and it is easy for the patients to understand. It can be used as a tool to evaluate the cognition and behavior of uric acid management in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia.

Key words: asymptomatic, hyperuricemia, uric acid management, protection motivation theory, reliability, validity