title: [Operationalizing the cross-cultural adaptation of epidemiological measurement instruments].
abstract: The objective of the article was to offer an operational framework to assess cross cultural adaptation processes of instruments developed in other linguistic, social and cultural contexts. It covers the need for using robust measurement tools; the importance of 'universal' instruments that permit cross cultural fine-tuning; and stresses the need for adapting existent instruments rather than developing new ones. Existing controversies and proposals for different procedures in current literature are reviewed and a model for adapting instruments is presented. This synthesis covers the operational steps involved in evaluating concepts, semantic and operational items, and presents psychometric analysis guidelines that underlay an evaluation of measurement equivalence. Finally, the need for adequately controlling the quality of information presented in epidemiological studies, including a meticulous cross-cultural adaptation of research agendas, is reinforced.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Epidemiologia, Instituto de Medicina Social, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. michael@ims.uerj.br
authors.forename: Michael Eduardo
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Reichenheim
authors.forename: Claudia Leite
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Moraes
mesh_terms: D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating