Clinical validation of the excessive sedentary behavior nursing diagnosis in university students

To evaluate the accuracy of clinical indicators and etiological factors associated with the nursing diagnosis of excessive sedentary behavior among university students.

This study employed a cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy design. The sample comprised 108 students from a Brazilian public university. Fisher's exact and chi-square tests were utilized to determine associations. A latent class analysis model was applied to assess the sensitivity and specificity of clinical indicators and the prevalence of the diagnosis. The odds ratio for etiological factors was calculated using univariate logistic regression. The research ethics committee of the responsible institution approved the study.

The prevalence of the nursing diagnosis excessive sedentary behavior among university students was 16.3%. The sensitive clinical indicators identified were 'inadequate sleep quality' (0.9999), while the specific indicators included 'lack of physical fitness' (0.9998) and 'cardiovascular alterations' (0.9557). The etiological factor 'physical activity in frequency, intensity and duration lower than recommended' was associated with the diagnosis. Additionally, statistical associations were found between the diagnosis and the following variables: body composition, muscle capacity, flexibility, scores from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (with emphasis on the days of the week of vigorous physical activity), minutes per week of vigorous activity, days of the week of walking, hours of sleep per night, and average sleep quality.

There is evidence of construct validity for the nursing diagnosis excessive sedentary behavior in university students, supported by one sensitive clinical indicator and two specific indicators.

Increased knowledge of the nursing diagnosis Excessive sedentary behavior in university students can enhance clinical reasoning among nurses and contribute to the elevation of evidence levels and the continuous improvement of the NANDA-I taxonomy.