Instrumento de avaliação da exposição do odor industrial para a saúde humana (IOS): construção e validação de conteúdo pelo método Delphi

Abstract

This dissertation is divided into one chapter and two articles. The chapter aims to highlight the relevant aspects of the odorimpact in vulnerable communities, exposed to contamination by industrial emissions, to clarify the effects of the odorous impact on human health, as well as the norms and studies on the subject, which supported the creation of an instrument capable of more accurately evaluating this exposure, entitled "IOS". Knowing the problem of environmental contamination in the Bay of All Saints, we chose to deepen the study in the community of Ilha de Maré, which lives about industrial establishments that operate with petrochemical management in the state of Bahia-Brazil, resulting in strong odors of sulfur and ammonia in the region. Several methods can be used to measure odor and its impacts, including questionnaires, surveys or olfactorial surveys. It was not found, through a search in the literature, a validated instrument, in this format, capable of associating the effects of odor for human health in these communities. International standards, as well as the use of these in surveys by several authors were fundamental for the construction and organization of the items. For the presentation of a result of easy understanding by the target population and by those who intend to measure the impact of odor in their analyses, in addition to the construction of the instrument, it needs to go through a process of content validation in to become reliable in the application. The content validation of the IOS had the psychometric attributes validity and reliability, and the methodological processes are described in two articles, from July 2018 to December 2019. Article 1 reveals the methodological paths for ios development and face validation by the Delphi method, measured by the calculation of CVI (Content Validity Index), through a consensus of 15 specialists. Article 2 brings the final version of the IOS after guaranteeing the attribute "validity" and leaves for the search of the attribute "reliability" through the test-retest method in a pilot population of 50 individuals living in Maré Island, where the stability of the instrument was checked by the Kappa coefficient. The final version of the instrument aims to generate an odour impact score for human health in four classifications: Low, moderate, reasonable and high impact. IOS can be used immediately in order to obtain a more reliable situational diagnosis of this environmental problem that directly impacts human health and is little explored in Brazilian territory. It becomes available to the scientific and professional community that has an interest in its use and it is recommended to advance the validation studies of this instrument, such as construct, structural and even cross-cultural validation, as well as to improve its use by technological means.