Psychometric Properties of a Questionnaire on Brucellosis Prevention Behaviors Based on the PRECEDE Model Among Rural Farmers and Their Family Members

Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice related to brucellosis among livestock farmers and meat handlers in Saudi Arabia

Background

Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonotic infection that is endemic in Saudi Arabia and associated with clinical and economic impacts. Several studies from countries endemic for brucellosis evaluated the knowledge and attitude of livestock farmers regarding brucellosis. However, no such study was conducted in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of livestock farmers and meat handlers in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study, where participants were interviewed in-person in Arabic in livestock markets between September-December 2023. Convenient sampling was utilized. The questionnaire included basic demographics and questions to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice toward personal protection and protection of the animals from brucellosis. The questionnaire was adapted from a previously validated survey and included 59 questions. Providing at least one correct answer to a certain question indicated a good knowledge about this item or a safe practice. The participants were divided into: farmers (shepherds working for the animal owners), commercial animal owners (those who rent a stockyard in the livestock market and employ farmers to sell their animals), and private animal owners (owners of private farms from which they sell their animals).

Results

545 participants were interviewed (n = 291 farmers, n = 118 commercial animal owners, n = 113 private animal owners, and n = 23 animal slaughterhouse workers). >90% have heard of brucellosis. Lack of education and short experience (<5 years) of working with livestock were negatively associated with good knowledge of brucellosis symptoms and transmission (OR, 0.30; 95%CI, 0.10-0.94; p = 0.038 and OR, 0.23; 95%CI, 0.08-0.62; p = 0.004, respectively). Taking sick animals to the veterinarian was reported by 61.2%, whereas 36.4% follow safe practices when disposing of aborted fetuses. While 34% consume raw milk, only 10% consume rare/medium-rare meat. 51.2% acknowledged the need for more information on brucellosis.

Conclusion

This study revealed the need to augment the knowledge of people working with animals, particularly those with no school education and those with short work experience, via providing educational visits or materials or through veterinarians. This should help them identify human and animal brucellosis symptoms and increase the knowledge on how to protect oneself and animals from this disease.

Determinants of stress coping behaviors in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS-DSCB): development and psychometrics of a PRECEDE model-based questionnaire

OBJECTIVE

Stress management delays the onset or exacerbation of symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The present study aimed to develop and psychometrically evaluate a questionnaire to measure the determinants of stress coping behaviors in patients with multiple sclerosis.

METHODS

This was a methodological study that was conducted in two stages: qualitative and quantitative phases. Participants in this study were patients with multiple sclerosis who referred to the MS Association and Charity Foundations for Special Diseases in Isfahan in 2021. Preliminary item pool was developed by qualitative part of the study. The validity of the questionnaire was determined with item impact, content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), face validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

RESULTS

In the first stage, an item pool containing 97 items were generated and after removing duplicate items and merging some of them, a questionnaire containing 51 items was developed. Ten items were removed based on the results of face validity and content validity. The EFA revealed 11 factors containing 41 items that explained 64% of the total variance of test. In CFA, 9 other items were deleted, and the questionnaire was reduced to 32 phrases in general. The results of the CFA determined the 9-factor structure of the questionnaire including awareness, attitude, self-efficacy, access to resources, skills of using resources, social support, important others, behavioral consequences and social comparison. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.726.

CONCLUSION

The results showed that the designed questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the determinants of stress coping behaviors in patients with multiple sclerosis. Identifying these factors and designing interventions based on them, in order to control or reduce stress in these patients, can help to improve the quality of life in these patients.