Development of an Exploratory Questionnaire Assessing Physical Activity Counselling and Readiness for Green Prescription in Croatian Family Practice

Family physicians (FPs) play an important role in promoting physical activity (PA), but Green Prescription (GRx), a written PA recommendation, has not yet been adopted in Croatia. This initial instrument-development study examined the exploratory internal structure and overall internal consistency of a questionnaire assessing Croatian FPs’ PA counselling and perceived readiness for potential GRx integration into routine practice. The 30-item questionnaire was developed from clinical experience, international PA prescription models, and informal expert feedback, without formal pilot testing or content validity assessment. It was emailed to 1,271 FPs across Croatia, yielding 365 complete responses. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used as an exploratory data-reduction method: an initial analysis suggested five components, although several items showed low or non-specific loadings, while a theory-informed PCA with three fixed components explored a shorter version. Overall internal consistency was good for the total scale (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.840), but subscale reliability was not assessed. Both questionnaire versions may provide a preliminary basis for assessing PA counselling and perceived readiness for GRx in Croatian family practice. Further research, including formal content validity assessment, confirmatory factor analysis, test–retest reliability, and cross-cultural validation, is needed before the instrument can be recommended for routine use.