title: [Social network and social support measures from the Pró-Saúde Study: pre-tests and pilot study].
abstract: We describe methodological steps in the selection of questions on social networks and support for a cohort study of 4,030 employees from a public university in Rio de Janeiro. First, group discussions with volunteers were conducted to explore the adequacy of related concepts. Next, questions in the Medical Outcomes Study questionnaire were submitted to standard "forward-" and "back-translation" procedures. The questions were subsequently evaluated through five stages of pre-tests and a pilot study. No question had a proportion of non-response greater than 5%. Pearson correlation coefficients between questions were distant from both zero and unity; correlation between all items and their dimension score was higher than 0.80 in most cases. Finally, Cronbach Alpha coefficients were above 0.70 within each dimension. Results suggest that social networks and support will be adequately measured and will allow for the investigation of their associations with health outcomes in a Brazilian population.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Epidemiologia e Métodos Quantitativos em Saúde, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21041-210, Brasil.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chor
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Griep
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Faerstein
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019058:Community Networks / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
vernacular_title: Medidas de rede e apoio social no Estudo Pró-Saúde: pré-testes e estudo piloto.