Brazilians' level of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Brazil is facing increasing cycles of numbers of infected people and deaths resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This situation involves a series of factors, including the behavior of the population, that can be decisive for controlling the disease. OBJECTIVE: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the Brazilian population regarding COVID-19. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional survey-type study, conducted using a population sample from different Brazilian states. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive and analytical approach was used. Sampling was done according to convenience and via snowballing. The data collection instrument was a knowledge, attitudes and practices system. RESULTS: 1,655 people from all over Brazil participated in the survey; 80% were living in the southern region and 70.15% were female. More than 90% had knowledge and good attitudes relating to the means of transmission, preventive care and symptoms associated with COVID-19, although their knowledge and attitudes were not fully reflected in daily practices, for which there was lower adherence (80%). Greater knowledge was correlated with older participants, larger number of children, female sex and marital status; better attitude, with female sex and complete higher education; and better practices, with greater age, larger number of children and female sex. CONCLUSION: A large part of the population has general knowledge about COVID-19, but not all knowledge was applied in practice. Older people, females and university graduates stood out as the best informed and most committed to controlling the disease.

Brazilians' level of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Brazil is facing increasing cycles of numbers of infected people and deaths resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This situation involves a series of factors, including the behavior of the population, that can be decisive for controlling the disease. OBJECTIVE: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the Brazilian population regarding COVID-19. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional survey-type study, conducted using a population sample from different Brazilian states. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive and analytical approach was used. Sampling was done according to convenience and via snowballing. The data collection instrument was a knowledge, attitudes and practices system. RESULTS: 1,655 people from all over Brazil participated in the survey; 80% were living in the southern region and 70.15% were female. More than 90% had knowledge and good attitudes relating to the means of transmission, preventive care and symptoms associated with COVID-19, although their knowledge and attitudes were not fully reflected in daily practices, for which there was lower adherence (80%). Greater knowledge was correlated with older participants, larger number of children, female sex and marital status; better attitude, with female sex and complete higher education; and better practices, with greater age, larger number of children and female sex. CONCLUSION: A large part of the population has general knowledge about COVID-19, but not all knowledge was applied in practice. Older people, females and university graduates stood out as the best informed and most committed to controlling the disease.

Validation of the advanced activities of daily living scale.

The objective was to evaluate the metric properties of the List of Advanced Activities of the Daily Living. A study quantitative was conducted. The sample comprised 200 older adults from the city of Pouso Alegre, Brazil. The following instruments were employed: 1- Questionnaire sociodemographic and health; 2- Vitor Quality of Life Scale for the Elderly (VITOR QLSE); and 3 - List of Advanced Activities in Daily Life - AAVDs. It was verified through the exploratory factorial analysis that the list possesses three denominated domains of Activities of Leisure, Social Activities and Productive Activities. The three-factor solution explained 58.18% of total variance: 30% by the first factor, 18.03% by the second, and 10.14% by the third. The coefficient alpha for the overall scale was 0.80. The list of AADLs presented reliable and valid metric properties to be applied in the elderly.

Vitor Quality of Life Scale for the Elderly: evidence of validity and reliability.

PURPOSE: To assess validity and reliability of the Vitor Quality of Life Scale for the Elderly (VITOR QLSE). METHODS: A sociodemographic questionnaire, a mental status questionnaire, the VITOR QLSE, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument old module (WHOQOL-OLD), and the Baptista Depression Scale adult version (EBADEP-A) were administered to a non-probabilistic sample of 617 elderly persons living in Brazil. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to reduce the 70 items of the first version of the VITOR QLSE. Construct validity was then evaluated; the VITOR QLSE was tested against the WHOQOL-OLD and EBADEP-A. One hundred and ninety-two randomly selected participants completed the instrument again 7-15 days after the first interview, providing a test-retest reliability estimate. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis reduced the 70 items to 48 items grouped into six domains: autonomy and psychological, environment, physical independence, family, health, and social domains. The total explained variance was 39.46 %. Cronbach's alpha for overall reliability was 0.93 and ranged from 0.79 for health to 0.90 for physical independence. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was 0.76 for test-retest reliability, and 0.56 and -0.57 for the correlation of VITOR QLSE scores with those of the WHOQOL-OLD and EBADEP-A, respectively. CONCLUSION: The final version of the VITOR QLSE has 48 items grouped into six domains and shows adequate validity and reliability. The rapid aging of the population and reduced number of instruments in the Latin America, and more specifically in Brazil, assessing quality of life in the elderly justify the development of a valid and reliable tool.

Cultural adaptation and validation of the Freiburg Life Quality Assessment--Wound Module to Brazilian Portuguese.

OBJECTIVES: to adapt the Freiburg Life Quality Assessment - Wound Module to Brazilian Portuguese and to measure its psychometric properties: reliability and validity. METHOD: the cultural adaptation was undertaken following the stages of translation, synthesis of the translations, back translation, committee of specialists, pre-test and focus group. A total of 200 patients participated in the study. These were recruited in Primary Care Centers, Family Health Strategy Centers, in a philanthropic hospital and in a teaching hospital. Reliability was assessed through internal consistency and stability. Validity was ascertained through the correlation of the instrument's values with those of the domains of the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index - Wound Version and with the quality of life score of the visual analog scale. RESULTS: the instrument presented adequate internal consistency (Cronbach alpha =0.86) and high stability in the test and retest (0.93). The validity presented correlations of moderate and significant magnitude (-0.24 to -0.48, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: the results indicated that the adapted version presented reliable and valid psychometric measurements for the population with chronic wounds in the Brazilian culture.