Brazilian Portuguese version of questionnaires assessing evidence-based practice competencies in healthcare students: Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and measurement properties.

BACKGROUND

While several instruments assess evidence-based practice (EBP) competencies, few are available for the Brazilian population, particularly healthcare students.

OBJECTIVE

To perform a cross-cultural translation of the Student Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (S-EBPQ) and Evidence-Based Practice Evaluation Competence Questionnaire (EBP-COQ) into Brazilian Portuguese; to adapt and validate the Brazilian Portuguese versions for use with healthcare students from diverse courses; and to assess the measurement properties of the translated and adapted versions.

METHODS

Four hundred forty-two healthcare students were included, and three versions were tested: S-EBPQ-BR, EBP-COQ-BR for nursing students, and EBP-COQ-BR for healthcare students. We assessed internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, responsiveness, and ceiling/floor effects. For reliability, participants completed the questionnaires twice, one week apart. For responsiveness, they completed them after participating in an educational program.

RESULTS

No issues were identified with understanding or applicability. For overall scores, the translated questionnaires demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87-0.92), good to moderate reliability (ICC=0.63-0.88), construct validity with moderate to very strong correlations to the Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (r=0.43-0.89), no ceiling or floor effects, and adequate responsiveness with significant pre- and post-educational program score differences. For subscales, the majority of them demonstrated satisfactory measurement properties, except for S-EBPQ-BR attitude (low internal consistency, poor reliability, and ceiling effect), EBP-COQ attitude (inadequate construct validity), and EBP-COQ skills (inadequate construct validity).

CONCLUSION

The Brazilian Portuguese versions of S-EBPQ and EBP-COQ exhibit strong measurement properties, including high internal consistency, adequate reliability, valid construct validity, and responsiveness. However, some subscales present suboptimal internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity.