Construct validation: coping with HIV/AIDS in Primary Health Care.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Effective management of HIV/AIDS relies on understanding and supporting patient coping mechanisms.
• Primary Health Care (PHC) professionals play a crucial role in implementing HIV/AIDS control strategies.
• A reliable and valid instrument is needed to assess the coping actions of PHC professionals in HIV/AIDS care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the construct and measure the trustworthiness of a questionnaire designed to assess HIV/AIDS coping actions.
• To ensure the questionnaire accurately reflects the intended concepts and provides reliable measurements.

Main Methods:

• A methodological study involving 397 PHC professionals in Northeast Brazil.
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to establish construct validity.
• Reliability and reproducibility were assessed using internal consistency and Kappa values.

Main Results:

• The final questionnaire comprises 18 items across six domains, supported by factor analysis.
• Excellent internal consistency (0.91) and confirmatory analysis fit (0.998 GFI) were achieved.
• High reliability was confirmed with Kappa values ranging from 0.833 to 0.997 for the domains.

Conclusions:

• The 18-item questionnaire is a feasible and trustworthy tool for assessing HIV/AIDS coping actions in PHC.
• This validated instrument has the potential to significantly contribute to evaluating and improving HIV/AIDS control efforts in primary care settings.