Translation, cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese, and validation of the Prosthetic Limb Users Survey of Mobility.

BACKGROUND

Several outcome measures can be performed to assess and quantify mobility after a lower limb amputation. The Prosthetic Limb Users Survey of Mobility (PLUS-M) is a self-report instrument developed to assess mobility in prosthesis users. It has already been translated into different languages but not into Brazilian Portuguese.

OBJECTIVES

To perform the translation and cultural adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese of the PLUS-M and to assess its validity and reliability.

STUDY

DESIGN

Observational cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Translation and cultural adaptation were performed by following internationally recognized standards. To assess construct validity, the T-scores of PLUS-M/12-Item Short Form-Brazilian Portuguese (BR-12) item short form were correlated to the 2-Minute Walk Test and the scores from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Short Form Health Survey domains by the Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ). A second administration of the PLUS-M/BR-12 was done by phone call to assess test-retest reliability.

RESULTS

Some cultural adaptations were made to improve understanding. The PLUS-M/BR-12 T-scores of 61 participants showed a strong correlation between the scores of the 2-Minute Walk Test (ρ = 0.69) and the Physical Function domain of the 36-Short Form Health Survey (ρ = 0.83), and an excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.90 [IC 95% = 0.833-0.943]; F (49,49) = 19,037; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The PLUS-M/BR-12 demonstrated evidence of validity and reliability in assessing mobility in Brazilian adults with lower limb amputations who use a prosthetic device, and it is suitable for use in clinical care.