COVID-19 pandemic: adaptation and psychometric assessment of the Face Mask Use Scale

Abstract

Objective

To culturally adapt the Face Mask Use Scale to Brazilian Portuguese and assess its psychometric properties.

Methods

This is a methodological, cross-sectional, quantitative study, which comprised the following steps: translation; Portuguese version consensus; assessment by an expert committee; back-translation and comparison with the original version; pilot test; and psychometric assessment of the Face Mask Use Scale (FMUS).

Results

The original version of FMUS was translated into Brazilian Portuguese. Content validity was performed by a panel of five experts.The Content Validity Index for the scale (CVI-S/Ave) was 0.87 and for the items (CVI-I) it ranged from 0.6 to 1.0. The FMUS – Brazilian Portuguese version (FMUS-BP) was applied to 4822 adults with a mean age of 30 years (SD = 11.7).For internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha was 0.86. The original two-factor model of the FMUS was not suitable for the Brazilian population due to the use of Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Thus, an Exploratory Factor Analysis was carried out to investigate the factor structure of the FMUS-BP again and a new potential model of the FMUS-BP for better explanation.The FMUS-BP presented a factor structure different from the original model. Items were aligned on a single factor, creating a one-dimensional instrument that explained 59.7% of the total variance. Construct validity by known-groups was satisfactory (p <0.001).

Conclusion

The FMUS-BP is reliable and valid to measure the practice of using masks among the Brazilian population, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus infections; Validation study; Pandemics; Psychometrics; Masks