Fiabilidad y validación del instrumento de conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas en la enfermedad de Chagas / Reliability and validation of an instrument to measure knowledge, attitudes and practices in response to Chagas disease

RESUMEN Introducción: La enfermedad de Chagas es de alta endemia en Colombia y es considerada un problema de salud pública por la morbilidad y mortalidad que ocasiona. Conocer la percepción de las comunidades frente a esta enfermedad es relevante en cuanto a las estrategias oportunas que se pueden establecer para su prevención. Objetivo: Evaluar la fiabilidad y validez de un instrumento que permita medir los conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas frente a la enfermedad de Chagas en comunidades endémicas. Métodos: Se desarrolló un estudio de corte transversal para la validación del contenido de un instrumento, diseñado con base en la literatura, el cual se sometió a la valoración por un panel de expertos que determinaron la eficiencia, relevancia, claridad y coherencia de cada uno de los ítems. Se determinó el índice Kappa de Randolph para evaluar concordancia. Luego se aplicó a 135 personas de áreas endémicas y se estableció el alfa de Cronbach para determinar consistencia interna. Resultados: El instrumento estudiado demostró concordancia según el índice de Randolph con una Kappa entre 0,7-0,8 para los ítems evaluados, con un alfa de Cronbach de 0,855 lo cual denota una consistencia adecuada. El cuestionario finalmente se estructuró con un total de 27 ítems que abordan: factores epidemiológicos y conocimientos de la enfermedad junto con actitudes y prácticas frente a esta. Conclusiones: El instrumento tiene un nivel adecuado de consistencia interna y concordancia, que permitiría su aplicación en áreas endémicas con poblaciones en riesgo a adquirir la enfermedad de Chagas.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Chagas disease is highly endemic in Colombia and considered to be a public health problem due to its morbidity and mortality. Learning about community perception of this disease is relevant to devise timely strategies for its prevention. Objective: Evaluate the reliability and validity of an instrument to measure knowledge, attitudes and practices in response to Chagas disease in endemic communities. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to validate the content of a tool based on the literature and assessed by an expert panel to determine the efficiency, relevance, clarity, and coherence of each of its items. Determination was made of Randolph's kappa index to evaluate agreement. Then it was applied to 135 people from endemic areas and Cronbach's alpha was established to determine internal consistency. Results: The tool studied showed agreement by Randolph's index with a kappa between 0.7 and 0.8 for the items evaluated and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.855, denoting appropriate consistency. The questionnaire was finally structured with a total 27 items addressing epidemiological factors and knowledge about the disease as well as attitudes and practices in response to it. Conclusions: The tool has an adequate level of internal consistency and agreement, which makes its application advisable in endemic areas with populations at risk of acquiring Chagas disease.

Crenças e práticas dos profissionais de saúde face à obesidade: uma revisão sistemática / Beliefs and practices of healthcare providers regarding obesity: a systematic review

Apesar da implementação de diversas medidas de intervenção, o número de obesos continua alto, fato que motiva interesse sobre o assunto, para que se possa contribuir para atenuar essa situação. Alguns autores têm procurado compreender o papel que os profissionais de saúde, principalmente os relacionados aos cuidados de saúde primários, parecem exercer nesse contexto. No presente artigo, pretendeu-se sintetizar os principais resultados de investigações relativas as crenças, atitudes e práticas de profissionais de saúde, visto que essas parecem influenciar negativamente em suas ações. As palavras obesity, beliefs, healthcare professionals, general practicioners, attitudes, practices, health physicians e family practicioners foram introduzidas em bases de dados tais como EBSCOHost, ScienceDirect, PsychInfo, PubMed e SciELO. Foram analisados 13 estudos, datados entre 1991 e 2011. Os dados indicam a ausência de conhecimentos e de competências adequados à obesidade, o que parece contribuir para o desenvolvimento de crenças ambivalentes e de atitudes negativas diante dos obesos, descrevendo-os como desmotivados, preguiçosos e com ausência de autocontrole. Esses profissionais consideram que lidar com o problema da obesidade não é facil, manifestando abertamente baixas expectativas de resultados quanto à perda de peso, e por isso, mal-sucedidos. As práticas demonstradas são inconsistentes, refletindo algum ceticismo quanto à eficácia das intervenções existentes. Torna-se peremptório alertar os profissionais de saúde, quer durante o seu processo de formação, quer durante a sua vida profissional, para o impacto que as crenças relativas à obesidade podem exercer nas suas práticas, as quais poderão comprometer o tratamento adequado e eficaz dos indivíduos obesos.

Despite the implementation of various intervention measures, the number of obese individuals remain high; thus, it is important to consider what is contributing to this scenario. Authors have been striving to understand the role healthcare providers, especially in primary healthcare, seem to play in this context. The present review aims to synthesize the main investigation results regarding beliefs, attitudes, and practices of healthcare providers, as they seem to negatively influence the practitioner's actions. The words "obesity", "beliefs", "healthcare professionals", "general practitioners", "attitudes", "practices", "health physicians", and "family practitioners" were entered into databases, such as EBSCOHost, ScienceDirect, Psychlnfo, PubMed, and SciELO. Thirteen studies from 1991 to 2011 were reviewed. The data indicate a lack of appropriate understanding and adequate competence regarding obesity, which likely contributes to ambivalent belief development and negative attitudes toward obese individuals, who are described as unmotivated, lazy, and lacking self-control. These professionals consider it hard to deal with obesity, manifesting low expectations of success regarding weight loss, thus considering themselves unsuccessful. Their practices are inconsistent, mirroring a certain skepticism towards the efficacy of available interventions. Either during graduation or as active practitioners, it is imperative to make healthcare providers aware of the impact their beliefs regarding obesity can exert on their practices, as these may impair appropriate and effective treatment delivery to obese individuals.