Cultural adaptation and validation of the Tuberculosis-Related Stigma Scale to Brazil - Phase I

Author(s)

Juliane de Almeida Crispim

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2016-10-17

Examining board members

Ricardo Alexandre Arcêncio; Ludmila Barbosa Bandeira Rodrigues Emerick; Ione Carvalho Pinto

• Advisor: Ricardo Alexandre Arcêncio

Abstract

Stigma associated with tuberculosis (TB) has been an object of interest in several regions of the world. The behavior presented by patients as result of social discrimination has contributed to a delay in diagnosis and the abandonment of treatment, leading to an increase in the cases of TB and drug resistance. The identification of populations affected by stigma and its measurement can be assessed with the use of valid and reliable instruments developed or adapted to the target culture. The objective of this study was to culturally adapt and obtain psychometric properties of the Tuberculosis-related stigma scale in Brazil, for TB patients. The Tuberculosis-related stigma is a specific scale for measuring stigma associated with TB, to be applied to patients under treatment for this disease. It presents two dimensions to be assessed, namely community\'s perspectives in relation to TB and patient\'s perspectives in relation to TB. The first has 11 items regarding the behavior of the community in relation to TB, and the second is made up of 12 items related to feelings such as fear, guilt and sorrow in coping with the disease. A methodological study, with a cross-sectional design, was developed in the city of Ribeirão Preto, in the state of São Paulo. Once the scale was translated and back-translated, data were collected from patients under treatment for TB in reference outpatient clinics in the city. In compliance with the guidelines of the DISABKIDS® group, semantic validation consisted in ensuring the understanding of the items by the target population, by means of interviews with 17 respondents selected for the study, between September and December 2014. Descriptive analyses showed that the results found in this stage were satisfactory, demonstrating that the scale was well accepted and easily understood by part of the participants, with suggestions for changing some colloquial terms, but without modification of the items. Following the semantic validation process, a pilot test was conducted with 83 TB patients, in order to obtain the initial psychometric properties of the scale in the Brazilian Portuguese version, allowing to simulate the field study. As regards its psychometric properties, the scale presented acceptable internal consistency for its dimensions, with values >= 0.70, absence of floor and ceiling effects, which is favorable for the property of scale responsiveness, satisfactory converging validity for both dimensions, with values over 0.30 for initial studies, and diverging validity with adjustment values different from 100%. The results found show that the Tuberculosis-related stigma scale can be a valid and reliable instrument, however, only the development of a field study in future research can verify the application of this scale in the Brazilian context (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/11208-1 - CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND VALIDATION IN BRAZIL OF THE TUBERCULOSIS-RELATED STIGMA SCALE
• Grantee: Juliane de Almeida Crispim
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate