Adaptação transcultural de escalas de discriminação e vigilância no ELSA-Brasil

OBJECTIVE: To describe the process of cross-cultural adaptation for the use in Brazil of the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and the Heightened Vigilance Scale (HVS) applied in the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). METHODS: Conceptual, item and semantic equivalence analyses were conducted by a group of four epidemiologists; evaluation of measurement equivalence (factorial analysis of configural, metric and scalar structures, according to sociodemographic characteristics) and reliability. A total of 11,987 participants responded to the discrimination scale, and a subsample of 260 people participated in the test-retest study. In the case of HVS, 8,916 people responded, while 149 individuals did so in the test-retest study. RESULTS: The scales presented conceptual, item and semantic equivalence pertinent in the Brazilian context, in addition to adequate correspondence of referential/denotative meaning of terms and also of the general/connotative of the items. The confirmatory factor analysis of EDS revealed a unidimensional structure, with residual correlations between two pairs of items, presenting configural and metric invariance among the four subgroups evaluated. Scalar invariance was identified according to sex and age group, but it was not observed for race/color and education. Heightened vigilance showed low loads and high residuals, with inadequate adjustment indicators. For the items of the discrimination scale the weighted kappa coefficient (Kp) ranged from 0.44 to 0.78, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.87. For HVS items, the Kp ranged from 0.47 to 0.59 and the ICC was 0.83. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are correlated items, it was concluded that the EDS is a promising scale to evaluate experiences of perceived discrimination in Brazilian daily life. However, the heightened vigilance scale did not present equivalence of measurement in the current format.OBJETIVO: Descrever o processo de adaptação transcultural para o uso no Brasil das escalas de discriminação no dia a dia (EDD) e vigilância intensificada (EVI), aplicadas no Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil). MÉTODOS: Foram realizadas análises das equivalências conceitual, de itens e semântica conduzidas por um grupo de quatro epidemiologistas; avaliação da equivalência de mensuração (análise fatorial das estruturas configural, métrica e escalares, segundo características sociodemográficas) e a confiabilidade. Responderam à escala de escala de discriminação 11.987 participantes e uma subamostra de 260 pessoas participaram do estudo teste-reteste. No caso da EVI, 8.916 pessoas responderam e 149 indivíduos no estudo teste-reteste. RESULTADOS: As escalas apresentaram equivalências conceitual, de itens e semântica pertinentes no contexto brasileiro, além de adequada correspondência de significado referencial/denotativa de termos e também da geral/conotativa dos itens. A análise fatorial confirmatória da EDD revelou estrutura unidimensional, com correlações residuais entre dois pares de itens, apresentando invariância configural e métrica entre os quatro subgrupos avaliados. Identificou-se invariância escalar segundo sexo e faixa etária, mas não foi observada para recortes de raça/cor e escolaridade. A vigilância intensificada apresentou cargas baixas e resíduos altos, com indicadores de ajuste inadequados. Para os itens da escala de discriminação o coeficiente de concordância kappa ponderado (Kp) variou de 0,44 a 0,78, e o Coeficiente de Correlação Intraclasse (CCI) foi 0,87. Para os itens da EVI, o Kp variou de 0,47 a 0,59 e o CCI foi 0,83. CONCLUSÕES: Embora haja itens correlacionados, concluiu-se que a EDD é uma escala promissora para avaliar experiências de discriminação percebidas no cotidiano brasileiro. Entretanto, a escala de vigilância intensificada não apresentou equivalência de mensuração no formato atual

Cross-cultural adaptation of discrimination and vigilance scales in ELSA-Brasil

OBJECTIVE: To describe the process of cross-cultural adaptation for the use in Brazil of the everyday discrimination scale (EDS) and the heightened vigilance scale (HVS) applied in the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). METHODS: Conceptual, item and semantic equivalence analyses were conducted by a group of four epidemiologists; evaluation of measurement equivalence (factorial analysis of configural, metric and scalar structures, according to sociodemographic characteristics) and reliability. A total of 11,987 participants responded to the discrimination scale, and a subsample of 260 people participated in the test-retest study. In the case of HVS, 8,916 people responded, while 149 individuals did so in the test-retest study. RESULTS: The scales presented conceptual, item and semantic equivalence pertinent in the Brazilian context, in addition to adequate correspondence of referential/denotative meaning of terms and also of the general/connotative of the items. The confirmatory factor analysis of EDS revealed a unidimensional structure, with residual correlations between two pairs of items, presenting configural and metric invariance among the four subgroups evaluated. Scalar invariance was identified according to sex and age group, but it was not observed for race/color and education. Heightened vigilance showed low loads and high residuals, with inadequate adjustment indicators. For the items of the discrimination scale the weighted kappa coefficient (Kp) ranged from 0.44 to 0.78, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.87. For HVS items, the Kp ranged from 0.47 to 0.59 and the ICC was 0.83. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are correlated items, it was concluded that the EDS is a promising scale to evaluate experiences of perceived discrimination in Brazilian daily life. However, the heightened vigilance scale did not present equivalence of measurement in the current format

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio