Test-retest reliability of the Military Pre-training Questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
Musculoskeletal injuries are a significant cause of morbidity during military training. A brief, inexpensive and user-friendly tool that demonstrates reliability and validity is warranted to effectively monitor the relationship between multiple predictor variables and injury incidence in military populations.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the test-retest reliability of the Military Pre-training Questionnaire (MPQ), designed specifically to assess risk factors for injury among military trainees across five domains (physical activity, injury history, diet, alcohol and smoking).


METHODS
Analyses were based on a convenience sample of 58 male British Army trainees. Kappa (kappa), weighted kappa (kappa(w)) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to evaluate the 2-week test-retest reliability of the MPQ. For index measures constituting the assessment of a given construct, internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha (alpha) coefficients.


RESULTS
Reliability of individual items ranged from poor to almost perfect (kappa range = 0.45-0.86; kappa(w) range = 0.11-0.91; ICC range = 0.34-0.86) with most items demonstrating moderate reliability. Overall scores related to physical activity, diet, alcohol and smoking constructs were reliable between both administrations (ICC = 0.63-0.85). Support for the internal consistency of the incorporated alcohol (alpha = 0.78) and cigarette (alpha = 0.75) scales was also provided.


CONCLUSIONS
The MPQ is a reliable self-report instrument for assessing multiple injury-related risk factors during initial military training. Further assessment of the psychometric properties of the MPQ (e.g. different types of validity) with military populations/samples will support its interpretation and use in future surveillance and epidemiological studies.
Robinson
M
M
Sport Health and Exercise Science Group, School for Health, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
Stokes
K
K
Bilzon
J
J
Standage
M
M
Brown
P
P
Thompson
D
D
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000293:injuries*; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult