Cross-cultural adaptation of the Escala De Fatigabilidad Vocal en Docentes (EFV-D) to brazilian portuguese.

PURPOSE: To perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the Vocal Fatigability Scale for Teachers (VFS-T) to Brazilian Portuguese (BP).

METHOD: The procedures followed the recommendations of Beaton et al. and the guidelines of the International Test Commission (ITC). Originally developed and validated in Spanish, the EFV-D assesses vocal fatigability in teachers. It consists of 17 items divided into two factors: 11 related to sensations during voice use and six related to recovery strategies and limitations due to excessive vocal use. The process comprised five stages: (1) translation into BP by two speech-language pathologists and one sworn translator, all Brazilian and fluent in Spanish; (2) synthesis of the translations; (3) pre-testing with 23 elementary, secondary, and higher education teachers, who evaluated the relevance of the items; (4) back-translation performed by one speech-language pathologist and one non-specialist translator; and (5) consensus of the versions and development of the final version by an expert committee.

RESULTS

During translation, adjustments were required in the title of factor 2 and all items for better interpretation, with 15 items reformulated and two content-adjusted. In the back-translation, there were structural discrepancies in 14 items and content discrepancies in 3, which were resolved by the expert committee. Overall, teachers assigned satisfactory levels of importance, clarity, and interpretation to most items. Those with a relevance index below 50% were modified according to equivalence criteria.

CONCLUSION

The cross-cultural adaptation of the EFV-D into PB resulted in the final version entitled the Vocal Fatigability Scale for Teachers (EFV-P). Future studies should be conducted to verify its validity and reliability.