Abstract
Relevance: Radiation safety of medical personnel remains one of the most pressing issues in modern healthcare. With the increasing use of diagnostic imaging, improving nurses’ competencies in radiation protection becomes essential. Insufficient awareness of radiation protection principles among nurses may lead to violations of safety standards and increased occupational exposure risks. The study aimed to culturally adapt and validate the Healthcare Professional Knowledge of Radiation Protection (HPKRP) questionnaire for assessing the competencies of Kazakhstani nurses in radiation safety. Methods: The original HPKRP questionnaire was translated into Russian and Kazakh using forward-backward translation. The process of cultural adaptation was carried out in accordance with internationally recognized stages: forward and backward translation, expert evaluation, and pilot testing (30 respondents, including 15 Russian and 15 Kazakh speakers). The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. The questionnaire’s internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s α. Results: The translation of the questionnaire completely preserved the meaning of the original English version; no significant differences were identified. During the validation process, minor modifications were made to the wording of some questions to clarify them and make them easier for respondents to understand. The overall Cronbach’s α was 0.90, and the scale-level CVI (S-CVI) was 0.88. Factor analysis confirmed a three-domain structure consistent with the original tool. Conclusion: The Kazakhstani version of HPKRP demonstrated excellent reliability and content validity, supporting its use for nurses’ radiation safety competencies in diagnostic imaging departments.