Validity and Reliability of the Malay Universal Measure of Bias-Fat among Staff and Students at Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Weight stigma contributes to negative physical and psychological outcomes and reduced healthcare engagement. Obesity in Malaysia is increasing, yet exploration of weight stigma is scarce. This study aimed to translate and validate the Universal Measure of Bias-Fat (UMB-Fat) for assessing obesity stigma among Malaysians. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 456 staff and students at USM Health Campus. The UMB-Fat was translated into Malay using forward and backward translation by research team members and a certified translator. The Malay UMB-Fat underwent face validity, construct validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and reliability testing. RESULTS: Face validity demonstrated excellent clarity and comprehensibility, with item-level face validity indices (I-FVI) ranging from 0.90 to 1.00 and a scale-level average (S-FVI/Ave) of 0.94. EFA (n=206) using principal-axis factoring and Promax rotation yielded three factors with 16 items retained, all of which had satisfactory factor loadings with KMO = 0.841 (p<0.001), and the total variance explained was 61.37%. Subsequent CFA analysis (n=250) revealed a three-factor model of 15 items with a goodness of fit index of comparative fit index = 0.952, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.938, chi-squared/degree of freedom = 2.11, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.068. The reliability testing using Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory for 3 factors (0.860, 0.836, and 0.852, respectively). CONCLUSION: The Malay version of UMB-Fat is a valid and reliable tool for assessing weight stigma among Malaysians.