Cross-cultural adaptation and reliability of the Brazilian version of the wheelchair skills test-questionnaire 4.3 for manual wheelchair users

ABSTRACT

The Wheelchair Skills Test-Questionnaire form for Manual Wheelchairs Operated by Wheelchair Users (WSTQ-M-WCU 4.3) assesses wheelchair skills that may influence users’ occupational performance in their daily activities. The purpose of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the WSTQ-M-WCU 4.3 to Brazilian Portuguese and to examine the inter-rater and test-retest reliabilities. This is a methodological study of cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of reliability. The agreement achieved in the cross-cultural adaptation concerning idiomatic, cultural, conceptual and semantic aspects was 100%, 99.2%, 100% and 96.18%, respectively. We analyzed the test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities in a convenience sample of 46 manual wheelchair users using Cronbach’s Alpha and Bland-Altman plots. The Brazilian version has excellent internal consistency (α > 0.9) and strong inter-rater reliability (p < .05). This instrument can guide practitioners in training wheelchair skills, thus contributing to the planning of interventions and for evidence-based practice in Assistive Technology.

KEYWORDS:

• assessment
• wheeled mobility aids
• outcomes

Acknowledgments

We express thanks for the financial support provided by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by an Ethics and Research Committee of the Federal University of São Carlos (Protocol No. 1.254.902).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by a research grant from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento Pessoal e de Nível Superior), [grant number: 1492663].