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Haleh Heizomi,1 Kamiar Kouzekanani,2 Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi,3,4 Hamid Allahverdipour5 1Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 2College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA; 3Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 4Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 5Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranCorrespondence: Hamid AllahverdipourResearch Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 14711, IranTel/Fax +98-411-3344731Email allahverdipourh@tbzmed.ac.irBackground: Due to the lack of an instrument to measure mental health literacy among Persian/Farsi speaking people, this study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Mental Health Literacy Scale (P-MHLS).Participants and Methods: The 2019 cross-sectional study with 992 participants was conducted in Tabriz, Iran. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to establish the construct validity of the P-MHLS. The internal consistency/reliability was estimated by computing Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Feasibility of the scale was examined and item response theory (IRT) models were applied to characterize the test items.Results: An exploratory factor analysis of data resulted in five factors, which included 30 of the 35 items and accounted for 42.00% of the variance. The construct validity of the 5-factor model was supported by the results of our confirmatory factor analysis. The factors were the 1) ability to recognize mental disorders, 2) confidentiality of mental health practitioners, 3) skills of mental health information seeking, 4) beliefs about mental illnesses, and 5) attitudes toward patients with mental illness.Conclusion: The study provides initial support for the use of the MHLS among Persian/Farsi speaking adults to assess mental health literacy.Keywords: mental health literacy, reliability, validity

Hamid Allahverdipour,1 Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi,2,3 Andrea Burri,4 Zeinab Javadivala5 1Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 2Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 3Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 4Institute for Sex Counselling and Sexual Sciences (ISCSS), Zurich, Switzerland; 5Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranCorrespondence: Zeinab JavadivalaDepartment of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 14711, Iran+98-411-3344731Email zjavadivala791@gmail.comObjective: Menopause-related symptoms can strongly affect health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in most peri-menopausal women. The aim of the present study was to explore the psychometric properties of a culturally adapted and translated Persian version of the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS).Study Design: The study was conducted on a random sample of 270 middle-aged women (age range 40– 60 yrs) selected from 25 urban health service centers across Tabriz, Iran. Content validity was evaluated by a panel of 11 experts. Construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analyses with Varimax rotation and principal axis factoring extraction method and by confirmatory factor analyses. Internal consistency and test–retest reliability were assessed with Cronbach’s alpha and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. In addition, the feasibility of the measure was judged based on ceiling and floor effects.Results: Content validity of the measure was good with a mean content validity index (CVI) and mean content validity ratio (CVR) of 0.88 and 0.94, respectively. Exploratory factor analyses identified three factors accounting for 47.69% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analyses found the original three-factor model to have the best fit to the data. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.85) and the test–retest reliability score (0.91) indicated good internal consistency.Conclusion: The Persian version of the MRS demonstrated excellent reliability and validity. It can therefore be used in both clinical and research settings to assess menopause-related symptoms and associated quality of life.Keywords: Menopause Rating Scale, psychometric, menopause, Persian