Diseño y validación de una escala de actitudes de los profesionales asistenciales hacia la liberación del uso de sujeciones en personas dependientes / Development and validation of a scale of healthcare professional attitudes to the liberation from restraint use with dependent people

Fundamento. En nuestro entorno ya existen estudios sobre prevalencia y uso de sujeciones pero no un instrumento de medida que elimine la subjetividad del evaluador para su uso en clínica y en investigación. Objetivo: diseño y validación de una escala de medida de la actitud del profesional asistencial hacia el uso de las sujeciones físicas y farmacológicas. Método. Estudio descriptivo y correlacional de validación de escala. Tras revisión bibliográfica, se elaboró un listado de ítems que se sometieron a análisis de validez; de contenido mediante jueces, de criterio mediante contraste con variable externa y de constructo mediante análisis factorial exploratorio. La fiabilidad mediante coeficiente alfa de Cronbach. Resultados. Contestaron al cuestionario 276 personas, 224 mujeres (82,4%) y 48 hombres (17,6%), media de edad de 38,65 años. La escala con 40 ítems ofreció un alfa de Cronbach 0,90. Se obtuvieron 4 dimensiones que explicaban un 46,76% de la varianza total. Se nombraron los factores Autonomía (15,08% de la varianza), Seguridad (12,23%), Entorno (8,46%) y Evitación (6,06%). Salvo la última, todas las subescalas obtuvieron un alfa superior a 0,72. Se obtuvieron diferencias debido a la experiencia en el cuidado del Alzheimer. El personal con experiencia puntúa significativamente más bajo en Factor 1 y Factor 3 y más alto en Factor 2, pero sin diferencias en el cómputo global. También por género, las mujeres puntuaron en Factor 1 más alto. Conclusión. Esta escala constituye un paso significativo en el estudio de las actitudes de los profesionales asistenciales profundizando en las causas subyacentes (AU)

Background. There are studies on the prevalence and use of restraints but not a measuring instrument to eliminate subjectivity in evaluation of their use in clinical practice and research in our environment. Objective. Design and validation of a scale of measurement of attitudes of health care professionals towards the use of physical and pharmacological restraints. Methods. Descriptive and correlational study for scale validation. Following a literature review, we developed a list of items that were subjected to a validity analysis: validity of content through judges, validity of criterion through external variable contrast, and validity of construct using exploratory factor analysis. Reliability was analysed using the Cronbach alpha coefficient. Results. Two hundred and seventy-six people answered the questionnaire, 82.4% (224) women and 17.6% (48) men, average age 38.65 years. The 40 item scale provided a Cronbach alpha of 0.897. Four dimensions were obtained explaining 46.758% of the total variance. The factors were named: Autonomy (15.084% of the variance), safety (12.228%), environment (8.463%) and avoidance (6.062%). Except for the last one, all the subscales obtained an alpha superior to 0.717. There were differences due to the experience in Alzheimer care. Staff with experience score significantly lower in Factor 1 and Factor 3, and higher in Factor 2, but there is no difference in the overall computation. Moreover, by gender, women scored higher in Factor 1.Conclusions. This scale is a significant step forward in the study of the attitudes of health care professionals as it enquires into underlying causes (AU)

[Development and validation of a scale of healthcare professional attitudes to the liberation from restraint use with dependent people]. / Diseño y validación de una escala de actitudes de los profesionales asistenciales hacia la liberación del uso de sujeciones en personas dependientes.

BACKGROUND: There are studies on the prevalence and use of restraints but not a measuring instrument to eliminate subjectivity in evaluation of their use in clinical practice and research in our environment. OBJECTIVE: Design and validation of a scale of measurement of attitudes of health care professionals towards the use of physical and pharmacological restraints. METHODS: Descriptive and correlational study for scale validation. Following a literature review, we developed a list of items that were subjected to a validity analysis: validity of content through judges, validity of criterion through external variable contrast, and validity of construct using exploratory factor analysis. Reliability was analysed using the Cronbach alpha coefficient. RESULTS: Two hundred and seventy-six people answered the questionnaire, 82.4% (224) women and 17.6% (48) men, average age 38.65 years. The 40 item scale provided a Cronbach alpha of 0.897. Four dimensions were obtained explaining 46.758% of the total variance. The factors were named: Autonomy (15.084% of the variance), safety (12.228%), environment (8.463%) and avoidance (6.062%). Except for the last one, all the subscales obtained an alpha superior to 0.717. There were differences due to the experience in Alzheimer care. Staff with experience score significantly lower in Factor 1 and Factor 3, and higher in Factor 2, but there is no difference in the overall computation. Moreover, by gender, women scored higher in Factor 1. CONCLUSIONS: This scale is a significant step forward in the study of the attitudes of health care professionals as it enquires into underlying causes.