Design and validation of a questionnaire to assess self-report symptoms caused by occupational exposure of nail salon technicians with to various chemicals in beauty salons in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objective: The extent and variety of chemicals in the used compounds in nail salons can cause irreparable damage to the health of nail technicians. Because of the lack of attention to health risks in this industry compared to other industries, the present study was conducted to design a tool for a preliminary study of occupational symptoms caused by exposure to chemical compounds in nail salons in Tehran. Materials and Methods: To design the Questionnaire, by the thoughts of the expert's, questions were designed and validated. Then it was provided to the employees. Finally, the data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 20). Results: In this study, the total values of CVI and CVR were calculated to be 0.79 and 0.86, respectively. in the reliability section, ICC correlation coefficient in test-retest in the dimensions of workplace information, personal characteristics and habits, information and knowledge of using the materials, skin, eye and respiratory symptoms (cough, bronchitis, shortness of breath and wheezing) were obtained 1.00, 0.98, 0.99, 1.00, 0.80 and (1.00, 1.00, 0.94), respectively. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was higher than 0.70 for all dimensions, which is acceptable; And the most common symptoms among employees was sneezing and itching skin lesions. Conclusion: The results indicated that the questionnaire has good validity and reliability for assessing occupational symptoms due to exposure to chemical compounds in nail salons.

Keywords

• nail technicians
• reliability and validity
• self-report questionnaire
• occupational exposure