Introduction:

The ACE (Assessing Competencies in Evidence-Based Medicine) Tool is a recently developed questionnaire to assess competencies in Evidence-Based Medicine. The aim of this study is to validate the Brazilian version of ACE Tool.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional validation study carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the questionnaire was translated. In the second phase, the questionnaire was applied to undergraduate students and teachers/preceptors of the medical course. The evaluated properties were internal validity, consistency and reliability.

Results:

76 medical undergraduate students and 12 teachers/preceptors were included. The mean of teachers/preceptors was significantly higher than that of students (10.25±1.71 vs 8.73±1.80, mean difference of 1.52, 95%CI 0.47-2.57, p=0.005), demonstrating construct validity. The Brazilian version of the ACE Tool obtained adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.61) and reliability (item-total correlation ≥ 0.15 in 14 of the 15 items).

Conclusion:

The Brazilian version of the ACE Tool shows acceptable psychometric properties and can be used as an instrument to assess competencies for Evidence-Based Medicine in Brazilian medical students.

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