“Would You Rather Jump Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane or Develop Cardiovascular Disease?” Validity and Reliability of the Cardiovascular Risk Perception Survey Among Military Personnel

Abstract

Background and PurposeCardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in the United States. The military are viewed as fit, ready to fight and that jumping out of perfectly good airplane or going to war is a greater risk than CVD. The purpose of this study was to determine reliability and validity of the Cardiovascular Risk Perception Survey (CRPS).MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive design was performed, supported by the Health Belief Model. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) and validity (principal component analysis) were examined.ResultsFifty-five participants were included in this study. Construct validity of the CRPS was supported by principal component analysis; indicating one scale that measured cardiovascular risk perception. The Cronbach's alpha is reported .865.ConclusionInitial psychometric testing of the CRPS provides evidence for construct validity and internal consistency reliability.

Cross Validation of the Post Event-Cardiovascular Risk Perception Survey Instrument among Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients

“…In addition to demographic information, participants' perception of developing CVD using the 10-item PE-CRPS were collected. Cardiac risk perception measurement is often identified in the literature using the Framingham 10-year risk score [43] but in this study, a modified psychometric instrument first derived from the original Cardiovascular Risk Perception (CRPS) by authors, Prue-Owens, Graham & Ramesh which was first examined in active-duty service members without diagnosis of heart disease [44]. In other words, the CRPS was tested in healthy active young men and women.…”