Translation and cultural adaptation of the Positive Aspects of Caregiving Scale for caregivers of people living with dementia in Brazilian context: a methodological study.

Abstract

The Positive Aspects of Caregiving (PAC) scale is used to assess psychosocial benefits provided to caregivers by the task of caring. The PAC scale consists of nine items, assessed using a five-point Likert scale, with higher values indicating greater positive perceptions and gains from the caregiving experience. To translate and culturally adapt the PAC scale for informal Brazilian caregivers of people with dementia. A methodological study was conducted at the Federal University of São Carlos. The following stages were carried out: Translation; Synthesis of the translations; Back-translation; Evaluation by an experts' committee; and Pre-test. Two independent professionals translated the PAC scale. The consensus version was obtained by merging both translations, which were back-translated into English by a third translator. The expert committee comprised three specialists in the area and project researchers. All scale items presented a Content Validity Index of 1 (CVI = 1.0), and thus remained in the pre-final version of the instrument. The instrument was pre-tested with seven caregivers of people with dementia, the majority of whom were women (57.1%), with a degree of kinship corresponding to sons/daughters (57.1%) and an average age of 55.2 (± 4.1) years. The caregivers considered it clear and understandable and made no suggestions for changes. The PAC scale was translated and culturally adapted for use by informal caregivers of people with dementia in Brazil. However, a psychometric analysis of the instrument is necessary to provide normative data for this population group.