Development and Validation of an Instrument to Evaluate Perceived Wellbeing Associated with the Ingestion of Water: The Water Ingestion-Related Wellbeing Instrument (WIRWI)

<div><p>Background</p><p>Ingestion of water has been associated with general wellbeing. When water intake is insufficient, symptoms such as thirst, fatigue and impaired memory result. Currently there are no instruments to assess water consumption associated with wellbeing. The objective of our study was to develop and validate such an instrument in urban, low socioeconomic, adult Mexican population.</p><p>Methods</p><p>To construct the Water Ingestion-Related Wellbeing Instrument (WIRWI), a qualitative study in which wellbeing related to everyday practices and experiences in water consumption were investigated. To validate the WIRWI a formal, five-process procedure was used. Face and content validation were addressed, consistency was assessed by exploratory and confirmatory psychometric factor analyses, repeatability, reproducibility and concurrent validity were assessed by conducting correlation tests with other measures of wellbeing such as a quality of life instrument, the SF-36, and objective parameters such as urine osmolality, 24-hour urine total volume and others.</p><p>Results</p><p>The final WIRWI is composed of 17 items assessing physical and mental dimensions. Items were selected based on their content and face validity. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 and 0.86, respectively. The final confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the model estimates were satisfactory for the constructs. Statistically significant correlations with the SF-36, total liquid consumption and simple water consumption were observed.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The resulting WIRWI is a reliable tool for assessing wellbeing associated with consumption of plain water in Mexican adults and could be useful for similar groups.</p></div

Internal consistency and the test of the global model and by physical and mental dimensions in a sample^* with two measurements.

<p>Study conducted in 2010 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.</p

Distribution of semi-structured interviews and focal groups according to profiles in process of development of the WIRWI.

<p>Study conducted in 2010 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.</p

The final version of <i>Water Ingestion-Related Wellbeing Instrument</i> consists of 17 items.

<p>Study conducted in 2010 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.</p

Process of development and validation of the Water Ingestion- Related Well Being Instrument in adult Mexican.

<p>Study conducted in 2010 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.</p

Final structure of the exploratory analysis of the Water Ingestion-Related Wellbeing Instrument with two components in process of validation of the WIRWI.

<p>Study conducted in 2010 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.</p

Structure of the exploratory proposed model in process of validation of the WIRWI and Structure of the final confirmatory model model in process of validation of the WIRWI.

<p>Structure of the exploratory proposed model in process of validation of the WIRWI and Structure of the final confirmatory model model in process of validation of the WIRWI.</p