Translation, Reliability and Development of a Calculator for the Brazilian Portuguese Version of the Family Empowerment Scale (FES) in Caregivers of Individuals With Cerebral Palsy.

Abstract

Care for patients with cerebral palsy (CP) poses significant challenges, with emphasis on the crucial role of family involvement in patients' well-being. The Family Empowerment Scale (FES) assesses parents/caregivers' perception of their ability to promote and influence their children's development in three domains: family, service system and community. The objectives of this study were to translate the FES into Brazilian Portuguese, to develop a calculator for data transformation and analysis and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale with Brazilian caregivers of children and adolescents with CP. Translation occurred in four stages: translation, synthesis, back-translation and review of the translated version. A calculator was then developed in the Excel program, to present data in absolute values and graphically for each subscale. Statistical analysis included Bland-Altman, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Internal Consistency, and Floor and Ceiling Effect. In total, 50 parents and caregivers participated to the measurement properties investigation, and the scale demonstrated good reliability for the family (ICC = 0.80) and services (ICC = 0.81) subscales, as well as for the overall scale (ICC = 0.88). The community subscale showed moderate reliability (ICC = 0.68), with an adequate Cronbach's alpha (0.89). The FES showed no ceiling or floor effects and a small limit of agreement. The data of all participants were analysed using the calculator. The FES-Brazilian Portuguese presented good reliability for assessing family empowerment in caregivers of children and adolescents with CP in Brazil, offering insights into this construct and guiding family-centred interventions. In addition, the calculator could be viable for adequate management and dissemination of data.