Translation and adaptation of the Pediatric Cardiac Quality of Life Inventory to the Portuguese population

Abstract

Background: Congenital heart diseases have a high prevalence in Portugal in the pediatric age. Understanding the quality of life of children with congenital heart diseases will allow to know its impact and the adaptive process involved. We lack, however, measurement instruments adapted to the Portuguese population. Objective: Translate and adapt the Pediatric Cardiac Quality of Life Inventory (PCQLI) for the Portuguese population. Methodology: The original questionnaire was translated according to international recommendations. The final version of the instrument was applied in a non-probability sample comprised 59 children, 80 adolescents and their parents, totaling 278 respondents. The facial validity analysis was performed with the pre-test and internal consistency analysis using Cronbach's Alpha. Results: In the pre-test it was verified that the items are comprehensible, useful with a simple and colloquial language. The internal consistency for the total score varied for the different versions between 0.834 and 0.932. Conclusion: The Portuguese version of PCQLI allowed us to evaluate the quality of life of children with congenital heart disease in a satisfactory way. However, a larger sample is needed to develop the validation process.