Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the short musculoskeletal function assessment questionnaire: the SMFA-BR.
BACKGROUND
This study was designed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate a Brazilian Portuguese version of the Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Questionnaire (SMFA-BR).


METHODS
The SMFA was translated from English into Brazilian Portuguese. Translations were synthesized, translated back into English, and then submitted to a committee of clinical, psychometric, and language experts. The questionnaire was then administered to 220 trauma patients at a midsize hospital in southern Brazil. Test-retest reliability was examined at one and seven days. Scale reliability and validity were assessed, and factor structure was analyzed.


RESULTS
Patients with only one region of dysfunction reported less dysfunction than did patients with two or three regions of dysfunction. Both the SMFA-BR dysfunction and the SMFA-BR bother scores had significant correlations with all Brazilian Short Form-36 (SF-36) subscales except for bodily pain. Test-retest reliabilities, as determined by intraclass correlation analyses, were 0.99 (95% confidence interval, 0.97, 1.00) at one day (n = 10) and 0.99 (95% confidence interval, 0.96, 1.00) at seven days (n = 17) for the dysfunction index and 0.99 (95% confidence interval, 0.98, 1.00) at one day (n = 10) and 0.97 (95% confidence interval, 0.97, 1.00) at seven days (n = 17) for the bother index. Cronbach alpha reliabilities were 0.95 (95% confidence interval, 0.93, 0.97) and 0.91 (95% confidence interval, 0.89, 0.94) for the dysfunction and bother indices, respectively. Minimal ceiling and floor effects were observed for the bother subscale only. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a three-factor structure: upper-extremity dysfunction, lower-extremity dysfunction, and bother.


CONCLUSIONS
A reliable and valid Brazilian Portuguese version of the SMFA was developed. It will facilitate the examination of functional performance within a large patient population as well as allow cross-cultural comparisons.
Taylor
Marcus K
MK
Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3119, Box 3094, Box 3389, Box 3615 (D.P. and L.D.H.), Durham, NC 27710, USA. mktaylor@duke.edu
Pietrobon
Ricardo
R
Menezes
Andreia
A
Olson
Steven A
SA
Pan
Deng
D
Bathia
Neeti
N
DeVellis
Robert F
RF
Kume
Paulo
P
Higgins
Laurence D
LD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires