[Validation of a knowledge-questionnaire about asthma applied to teachers of elementary school of Monterrey, Mexico].
BACKGROUND
asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases; is increasing in prevalence and an important cause of school absenteeism. Previous studies have failed to evaluate knowledge about asthma among elementary school teachers worldwide because of the lack of validated questionnaires.


OBJECTIVE
to validate a questionnaire about asthma knowledge for elementary school teachers in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.


METHODS
an observational, cross sectional, descriptive study, from February to December 2004, by applying a questionnaire to a group of elementary school teachers in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. The questionnaire is a translation and adaptation to the questionnaire of 13 questions used to assess the knowledge about asthma among parents, according to the National Asthma Education Program of US.


RESULTS
a total of 179 questionnaires were applied, in which 6 of the 13 questions were answered correctly by more than 90% of the teachers. The internal consistency reliability was adequate with a Cronbach a coefficient of 0.75.


CONCLUSIONS
in order to obtain reliable data using questionnaires, these must undergo a validation process. Our questionnaire got validation because of the reliability shown according to the internal consistency analysis.
González Diaz
Sandra Nora
SN
Centro Regional deAlergia e Inmunología Cliníca, Hospital Universitario José Eleuterio González, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. sgonzalezdiaz@yahoo.com
Cruz
Alfredo Arias
AA
González González
Arya Yannel
AY
Félix Berumen
José Alfredo
JA
Weinmann
Alejandra Macías
AM
D001249:Asthma; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005178:Faculty; D008800:Mexico; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires