Development of a Brazilian Portuguese instrument to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices of pregnant women with diabetes at a Brazilian center

Abstract Objective: To develop and test an instrument in Brazilian Portuguese to evaluate KAP regarding GDM. Methods: We developed an instrument with 22 items (10 items for practice, 4 for knowledge and 8 for attitude), which was tested in a population of pregnant women (24 – 28 weeks) with GDM. We performed an Exploratory Factor Analysis to evaluate the items included in the instrument, the covariance among the domains evaluated by the instrument, and the robustness of the instrument. Results: One hundred seventy-five participants were included in this study (mean gestational age: 25.4±7.1 weeks). The majority of them did not present adequate KAP regarding diabetes. The average knowledge score was 0.84±1.02 points; the attitude score was 32.46±2.94; and the practice score was 4.65±1.65. The model with the best robustness to evaluate KAP was composed of 3 items for knowledge, 6 for attitude, and 5 for practice. Conclusion: The levels of KAP regarding diabetes among Brazilian pregnant women are low. The moderate association between knowledge and practice underscores the need for targeted educational interventions within prenatal care. Implementing a specific Brazilian Portuguese instrument to evaluate KAP among this population can bring evidence regarding the dimension of the problem in the country.