Abstract

PAULA, VIVIANE ANDRADE CANCIO DE; MACENA, MARIANA OLIVIA PEREIRA ABOUD DE  and  TOSTES, MÔNICA ALMEIDA. Translation and semantic equivalence of the Brazilian version of the Autism-Specific Quality of Life Items instrument (ASQoL). Cad. Pós-Grad. Distúrb. Desenvolv. [online]. 2024, vol.24, n.1, pp.94-119.  Epub Nov 22, 2024. ISSN 1519-0307.  https://doi.org/10.5935/cadernosdisturbios.v24n1p94-119.

The Autism-Specific Quality of Life Items (ASQoL) is a specific British questionnaire to assess the quality of life of autistic adults. The objective of this study was to obtain the Brazilian version of the ASQoL instrument, with semantic equivalence with the original instrument. The methodology includes six steps: 1. translation of ASQoL into Portuguese, done by two translators; 2. pre-test of the translated questionnaires; 3. unification of the questionnaire; 4. back-translation; 5. revision of translations and back-translations; 6. production of a final questionnaire. All the steps to obtain the final version of the ASQoL were carried out with the consent of the authors of the original questionnaire. Respondents, adults with autism, were recruited through online advertisements using social media platforms. In total, 30 respondents participated in the pre-test, in which the two translations were tested. The two translated versions were very similar, and after completion of all steps a final version of the ASQoL was obtained. Therefore, it is concluded that the ASQoL instrument proved to be understandable and easy to apply in the pre-test and that it presents conceptual, semantic, cultural and operational equivalence in relation to the original items, however the psychometric properties need to be evaluated in the Brazilian population.

Keywords : Autism spectrum disorder; Quality of life; Cross-cultural comparison; Surveys and questionnaires; Translations.

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