Development and validation of educational pamphlet to prevent Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by recurrent episodes of complete (apneas) and partial (hypopneas) upper airway obstruction. During sleep, the muscles relax, causing the uvula and other soft tissues in the throat to collapse, which blocks the upper airway. The Obstructive Sleep Apnea is one of the leading risk factor for coronary heart diseases and heart failure. People with OSA snore loudly and frequently there is a misconception among villagers in the rural area as in loud and frequent snoring refers to hard work and effort. This study aims to create and validate educational pamphlet on early signs and measure to control and prevent Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in order to create awareness among rural people. A quantitative research approach was adopted.The pamphlet was developed in three phases which includes review of content, design / layout of the pamphlet and validation with expert opinion. The pamphlet have developed based on BALD (Backer Able Leaflet Design) method. The pamphlet was validated by the experts with minimum 10 years of experience (Two general physician, Two endocrinologist, Ten Nursing teaching Faculties, Two physiotherapist, Five nursing administrators, Ten Intensive Care Staff nurse and Four postoperative staff nurses. Validated by using Item level content validity index (I-CVI) and Scale level Content Validity Index (S-CVI) individual items which ranged from 0.94 – 1. Scale level Content Validity Index (S-CVI) was 0.9120.Content validation of our study showed I-CVI more than 0.97 for all the items in the questionnaire except item - 1 (I-CVI= 0.94).