Adaptation and psychometric assessment of the instrument "Partners of Adults with Type 1 Diabetes Distress Scale" in a Brazilian population.

Abstract

To adapt the instrument "Partners of Adults with Type 1 Diabetes Distress Scale" (Partner-DDS) into Brazilian culture, and to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the adapted version. All the cultural adaptation steps of the measure's instruments were followed. The psychometric properties such as reliability (stability by test-retest; internal consistency), and convergent construct validity were performed. Of all 72 partners, 69.4% were male, mean age: 42.69±14.09years, mean of marriage duration: 14.74±12.41years, and mean schooling: 11.81±3.91years.The internal consistency of the instrument (Cronbach Alpha) was 0.90. The intra-class coefficient (stability) was 0.80 (0.72-0.84). The Spearman coefficient (convergent construct validity) between the Partner-DDS scale and the Anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A) was 0.4273 (p<0.0002). The steps of the instruments' cultural adaptation were appropriately performed. The Brazilian version of the Partner- DDS scale demonstrates reliable psychometric properties for being used in POPWT1D distress evaluation in Brazil. The cultural adaptation of Partner-DDS scale into Brazilian Portuguese is a helpful innovation to assess the emotional burden in POPWT1D. This tool could be used to provide education and psychological support for this population.