Questionnaire:
The questionnaire was designed by the authors after reviewing many
studies about Vitamin D deficiency. 10-13 The
questions were modified to meet the aims of study and validated by: a
general pediatrician, and pediatric consultant, pediatric and newborn
specialist. The final version of the questionnaire was translated to
Arabic language and distributed online as Google form through WhatsApp
and Facebook groups.
The questionnaire consisted of interface and three sections:
demographics, vitamin D related knowledge and practices, vitamin D
related perception. The interface explains the aim of the study and
confirming the confidentiality of information.
Demographic data include general information such as age, nationality,
residency place, work status, level of education, age group of children.
The section of vitamin D related knowledge and practices included six
questions about sources, benefits, risk factors and complications of
deficiency, relation with skin color and breast milk which were answered
by “Yes”, “No”, or “I don’t know”, and ten multiple choice
questions about practices undertaken by mother regarding vitamin D
intake during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and toward their
babies/children. The last section included six questions regarding
mother’s perceptions toward vitamin D which were answered using five
level Likert item scale (strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor
disagree, disagree, strongly disagree).