Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Reliability of the 15D Portuguese Version

In recent years, several experiments by the World Health Organization have been carried out simultaneously to measure quality of life in different dimensions. Quality of life (QoL) can be experienced through social relationships, the environment, physical and mental health and personal beliefs. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines QoL as the individual's perception of their position in life, its presence in different contexts according to individual goals, concerns and expectations. For the measurement of Quality of Life parameters, WHO provides several standards, some of them available in a Portuguese version.

There is a sub-questionnaire for measuring health-related QoL (HRQoL) that focuses on the patient's own perception of health and ability to function as a result of health status or disease experience. Despite the existence of several questionnaires translated into portuguese, a need was was found to finding a quick-to-use questionnaire that addressed several domains of HRQoL. A questionnaire widely used in research has been the 15D. It consists of 15 dimensions based on mobility, vision, hearing, breathing, sleep, eating, speech, excretion, usual activities, mental function, discomfort and symptoms, depression, anxiety, vitality and sexual activity.

With the aim of making this questionnaire available in Portuguese, a study was carried out – “Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Reliability of the 15D Portuguese Version: A Generic Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Instrument” - which aims to translate and culturally adapt this questionnaire, with the objetive to measure the quality of life of the Portuguese population, as well to explore its relative reliability and internal consistency. This study had the participation of CHRC researchers, Professor and Director of ESDH-UÉvora Armando Raimundo and professors Soraia Ferreira, Nuno Batalha and José Parraça, also from ESDH.

After applying the methods described in the study and after several tests, the portuguese version of the 15D questionnaire proved to be equivalent to the English version and reliable for the portuguese population.

Learn more about the full study: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11081099