Validity and Reliability of the Portuguese-Language Version of the Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire

ABSTRACT Introduction In clinical learning scenarios, preceptors should mediate between the knowledge students already possess and the knowledge they need to acquire, integrating theory and practice into the patient care context. In order to make this possible, we must train preceptors and develop instruments for evaluating their performance as educators. In 2008, the Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire (MCTQ) was developed in the Netherlands with the purpose of enabling students to evaluate their preceptors, in order to provide preceptors with feedback regarding their teaching skills and the supervision provided by them during the internship period. Validating an instrument that has been translated is important and valuable, because it enables certain phenomena to be evaluated and investigated in different countries. Objective To validate the Portuguese-language version of the MCTQ. Methodology This is an instrument validation study, with research carried out in four different hospitals in the Northeast Region of Brazil. It applied the Portuguese-language version of the MCTQ to a non-probability sample composed of 246 fifth- and sixth-year students of Medicine from four different institutions in the state of Pernambuco. Kappa values were used to evaluate the validity of the construct, and reliability was measured using standardized Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The reproducibility level of the MCTQ was calculated using the Student’s t-test for repeated measures, comparing test and re-test values. This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Faculdade Pernambucana de Saúde. Results The kappa index was between 0.527 and 0.71, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was between 0.77 and 0.954, demonstrating that the instrument has good levels of agreement and internal consistency, respectively. With respect to reproducibility, all coefficient correlation values found were significant and showed good magnitude (≥0.72). Conclusion The Portuguese-language version of the MCTQ proved to be reliable and valid for use in Portuguese-language settings, and can be useful as an instrument for promoting pedagogical improvements in undergraduate and graduate courses, especially in health sciences.