Turkish adaptation, validity, and reliability study of the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q)
Esma Arslan1
, Sabriye Ercan2
1Sports Medicine Section, Van Research and Training Hospital, Health Science University, Van, Türkiye
2Sport Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Türkiye
Keywords: Female athlete, LEAF-Q, validity, reliability
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to adapt the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q) to Turkish language.
Materials and Methods: After obtaining the necessary permissions, translation and back-translation of the questionnaire were provided by independent experts, and the Turkish version was obtained. Opinions from 52 athletes were gathered to ensure the content validity. The Turkish version of the questionnaire and the SCOFF Questionnaire were applied to 125 female athletes to evaluate the construct, predictive and concurrent validity. Reliability was evaluated through a test-retest process involving 23 athletes.
Results: The Item-Content Validity Index (I-CVI) values ranged from 0.92 to 1.00. The Scale-Content Validity Index (S-CVI) value of the questionnaire was determined as 0.98. When the predictive validity was examined, the Eta coefficient was determined as 0.514 and the Phi coefficient as 0.425 (p˂0.001). According to the risk category of the SCOFF Questionnaire, the LEAF-Q score of the athletes in GroupSCOFF without risk was 4.53±0.41, while the LEAF-Q score of those in the GroupSCOFF at risk was 7.14±0.47 (p˂0.001). A weak-moderate positive correlation was found between LEAF-Q and SCOFF Questionnaire scores (r=0.429, p˂0.001). The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) value of the questionnaire was calculated as 0.803 from the test-retest phase. In the Bland-Altman plot test, the results are found to be reliable with 95% of them distributed within the range of -4 to +4. LEAF-Q total scores and LEAF-Q risk category did not significantly differ in the test-retest phase (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Overall, the Turkish adaptation, validity, and reliability of the LEAF-Q were ensured.
Cite this article as: Arslan E, Ercan S. Turkish adaptation, validity, and reliability study of the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q). Turk J Sports Med. 2024;59(4):141-7 https://doi.org/10.47447/tjsm.0844
The approval for this study was obtained from Suleyman Demirel University Medicine Faculty Ethics Committee (Decision No: 62, dated 03.02.2021).
Concept – EA,SE; Design - EA,SE; Supervision –SE; Materials–EA,SE; Data Collection and/or Processing – EA,SE; Analysis and İnterpretation–EA,SE; Literature Review – EA; Writing manuscript – EA,SE; Critical Reviews –EA,SE. All authors contributed to the final version of the manuscript and discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to authorship and/or publication of the article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or publication of this article.
We would like to thank all participants.
