Translation, cultural adaptation and psychometric analysis of the Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADLQ) for functional assessment of patients with Alzheimer's disease

Objectives: To translate and cross-culturally adapt an instrument that measures the performance of Alzheimer's patients in their activities of daily living and to analyze the psychometric properties of the instrument. Methods: The sample consisted of 60 patients and their 60 respective caregivers. The instrument was translated using the back-translation technique in association with the bilingual method. The caregivers gave responses to the translated version, and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was applied to the patients. Psychometric analysis was conducted by means of the validity of the instrument measures. Results: The results showed an inversely significant correlation (-0.793) at the 5% level between the instruments, and 62% of the total variance was explained. The inter-item correlation matrices demonstrated that some items correlated with the overall measurements of functional capacity in a slightly positive, non-significant manner. Correlation between the items of the translated instrument and the MMSE made it possible to test the internal coherence of the instrument with an already validated instrument. The variables that correlated significantly with the MMSE were selected, thus suggesting that the instrument could be further condensed. The t test for correlated items showed that the measures of the translated ADLQ version and the condensed version did not differ statistically at a significance level of 5%, such that the simplification of the instrument did not change the mean level of functional dependency. Factorial analysis carried out using varimax rotation indicated six dimensions. Conclusion: This study introduces a new functional assessment tool with the aim of contributing to a more precise measurement of the patient's functional status by all healthcare professionals.