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Ribeiro Neto F.1,2, Gomes Costa R.R.1,2, Vieira Fonseca M.1,3, Rodrigues Martins W.3,4, Luiz Carregaro R.3,4
1International Center for Neuroscience and Rehabilitation SARAH, Spinal Cord Injury, Brasília, Brazil, 2Universidade de Brasilia, Physical Education, Brasília, Brazil, 3Universidade de Brasilia, School of Physical Therapy, Brasília, Brazil, 4Universidade de Brasilia, Rehabilitation Sciences Graduate Program, Brasília, Brazil
Background: Functional capacity determination and evaluation are essential elements to guide rehabilitation programs and to measure intervention effectiveness in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). The skills necessary for wheelchair handling are one of the main aspects of the independence of individuals with SCI. Several tests and specific circuits were developed in the past few years, aiming at the assessment of independence and wheelchair skills. In this context, previous research demonstrated that the Adapted Manual Wheelchair Circuit (AMWC) attained all clinimetric properties and presented a good applicability. This circuit, however, has not yet been translated and validated to the Brazilian population.
Purpose: This study aimed to translate and adapt the AMWC to the Brazilian-Portuguese, and validate the test in a population of Brazilian individuals with SCI.
Methods: The first step was the translation and transcultural adaptation of the AMWC version to the Brazilian-Portuguese version. Five methodological steps were adopted: Translation, Translation synthesis, Back-Translation, Committee Review and Validation. Following the adaptation, sixty-six men with SCI were enrolled in the study for the validation procedure. The subjects performed the AMWC and the Spinal Cord Injury Measure (SCIM) was assessed. For the criterion validity, AMWC were related with SCIM scale using Spearman correlation. The construct validity was investigated by the relationship between AMWC and SCIM with injury lesion levels, using cubic regression analysis. Significance was set at 5% (P≤0.05; two-tailed). The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee (protocol n. 53341616.0.0000.0022).
Results: All AMWC outcomes were significantly correlated with SCIM total score and subscales (P≤0.01). However, when this analysis was performed by injury level group, only tetraplegia group was significantly correlated to the AMWC outcomes to all SCIM scale and subscales. The best significant correlations to injury level (construct validity) were AMWC total item time and SCIM mobility score (R2 = 0.639, P≤0.01 and R2 = 0.657, P≤0.01, respectively).
Conclusion(s): Based on the present findings, the Brazilian-Portuguese version of AMWC was successfully translated and validated. Criterion and construct validity were performed and AMWC can be used to assess wheelchairs skills of Brazilians individuals with SCI. Future studies using the Brazilian-Portuguese AMWC version as assessment of interventions in clinical trials are warranted.
Implications: The AMWC allows a better assessment of independence and wheelchairs skills, thus, the Brazilian-Portuguese version could be used for the assessment of Brazilian individuals with SCI and for a proper determination of the functional capacity of this population.
Funding acknowledgements: The present study did not have any funding source.
Topic: Disability & rehabilitation
Ethics approval: The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of SARAH Rehabilitation Hospital Network Brasilia, Brazil (protocol n. 53341616.0.0000.0022).
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
