Validity and reliability of the Questionnaire for Compliance with Standard Precaution.

Marília Duarte Valim,Maria Helena Palucci Marziale,Jair Lício Ferreira Santos,Fernanda Ludmilla Rossi Rocha,Miyeko Hayashida

doi:10.1590/s0034-8910.2015049005975

Abstract

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE : To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Questionnaire for Compliance with Standard Precaution for nurses.METHODS : This methodological study was conducted with 121 nurses from health care facilities in Sao Paulo’s countryside, who were represented by two high-complexity and by three average-complexity health care facilities. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha and stability was calculated by the intraclass correlation coefficient, through test-retest. Convergent, discriminant, and known-groups construct validity techniques were conducted.RESULTS : The questionnaire was found to be reliable (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.80; intraclass correlation coefficient: (0.97) In regards to the convergent and discriminant construct validity, strong correlation was found between compliance to standard precautions, the perception of a safe environment, and the smaller perception of obstacles to follow such precautions (r = 0.614 and r = 0.537, respectively). The nurses who were trained on the standard precautions and worked on the health care facilities of higher complexity were shown to comply more (p = 0.028 and p = 0.006, respectively).CONCLUSIONS : The Brazilian version of the Questionnaire for Compliance with Standard Precaution was shown to be valid and reliable. Further investigation must be conducted with nurse samples that are more representative of the Brazilian reality. The use of the questionnaire may support the creation of educational measures considering the possible gaps that can be identified, focusing on the workers’ health and on the patients’ safety.

Highlights

The standard precautions include hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), prevention of accidents with sharp objects, environment cleaning and disinfection measures, cough etiquette, and safe practices during injections.[23]
Further investigation must be conducted with nurse samples that are more representative of the Brazilian reality
The use of the questionnaire may support the creation of educational measures considering the possible gaps that can be identified, focusing on the workers’ health and on the patients’ safety

Summary

Introduction

The standard precautions include hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), prevention of accidents with sharp objects, environment cleaning and disinfection measures, cough etiquette, and safe practices during injections.[23]. Even with the creation and disclosure of protocols regarding standard precautions in health care institutions, workplace accidents with potentially contaminated biological material are frequent.[5,16] Health care-related infections are the most common and studied adverse effect from hospitalization. They are the main health care problem in developed and developing countries due to deaths, prolonged hospitalization periods, and negative effects to patients to the well-being of the nation.[29]. Compliance to standard precautions is below recommended levels worldwide.[3,7,26] Some variables are pointed out to influence compliance to standard precautions, such as: previous training on standard precautions;[2,14] perceived organizational safety;[4] perceived obstacles to comply with standard precautions;[11] perceived self-efficacy;[14] complexity of health care facilities – once compliance was shown to be higher in larger, more complex facilities12,14 –, and knowledge regarding such measures.[19]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion