CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDATION OF QUALITY CRITERIA FOR AURICULOTHERAPY CARE IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
Auriculotherapy; Quality Management; Complementary Therapies; Primary Health Care
INTRODUCTION: Auriculotherapy is a therapeutic practice included in the National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices that involves the stimulation of neuroreactive zones of the ear to promote the psychophysical regulation of the individual, using energy points that represent the entire organism as a microsystem. This practice is widely applied in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), especially in Primary Health Care (PHC), where many professionals are trained through a partnership between the Ministry of Health and the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate quality criteria for the evaluation of auriculotherapy practice in Primary Health Care. METHODOLOGY: This is a methodological study of the construction and validation of a quality criteria instrument. The research was conducted from June 2025 to November 2025 and consisted of two stages: 1- Construction of the instrument, 2- Content validation by ten expert judges in the subject, using the Delphi technique. For the validation process, the Content Validity Index (CVI) was calculated. Results: Six out of the seven evaluated criteria were validated and obtained a CVI > 0.80. Conclusion: The instrument was validated in relation to its content, demonstrating that it is a representative instrument for evaluating the quality of auriculotherapy practice in Primary Care. The development and validation of these criteria represent an important milestone for Integrative and Complementary Health Practices (PICS) towards higher quality, safer, more effective and humanized care within the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).