Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the DiAbeTes Education Questionnaire (DATE-Q)

Background: The DiAbeTes Education Questionnaire (DATE-Q) is a self-administered tool developed to evaluate disease-related knowledge and to assess knowledge of five core components of rehabilitation programs: physical exercise, diet, psychosocial well-being, disease self-management, and complications.

Objective: To translate and cross-culturally adapt into Brazilian Portuguese, and to test the psychometric properties of the DATE-Q for its use in Brazil.

Methods: The process of translation and cross-cultural adaptation consisted of five steps: translation into Brazilian Portuguese, synthesis of translation, back translation, expert committee, and pilot test of pre-final version. The pre-final version was applied to a sample of 30 patients with diabetes. Psychometric properties (internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, and ceiling and floor effects) of the final version of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the DATE-Q were tested in a sample of 200 adults with diabetes.

Results: There was no conceptual divergence between the original and the translated versions. Ten (50%) items of the DATE-Q were culturally adapted. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.6), reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.5), and construct validity (correlation between Diabetes Knowledge Scales and DATE-Q total scores: ρ = 0.7; P < 0.001) were confirmed. Ceiling or floor effects were not identified. The highest scoring item was about healthy eating. The average time for completion of the DATE-Q was 5 min and 51 s, and the completion rate was 100% for all items.

Conclusion: The Brazilian Portuguese version of the DATE-Q showed adequate psychometric properties, and results suggested that the tool can be used to assess disease-related knowledge in adults with diabetes in Brazil.