Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Food Choice Questionnaire for Brazilian Adolescents (FCQ-A-BR)

Abstract

Background

Instruments that seek to find out the reasons that lead to food choices among adolescents are not yet available in Brazil so far. The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) for adolescents is a simple questionnaire that can be used not only in research, but also in healthcare.

Objective

To describe the initial steps - face and content validity - of the process of translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the FCQ for adolescents from the Spanish version into Brazilian Portuguese.

Method

This is a methodological study of translation and cross-cultural adaptation, in accordance with international standards for translation of instruments for validation. Four steps were followed: translation, back-translation, evaluation by an expert committee and two pre-tests, which were carried out with adolescents aged between 14 and 19 years.

Results

The items and the instrument title were translated to Portuguese. Some items needed adjustments to better understand the target audience. The average application time was seven minutes. One item was eliminated from the questionnaire and the response scale was modified to better suit the instrument.

Conclusion

The initial process of translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Food Choice Questionnaire for Brazilian Adolescents (FCQ-A-BR) attested to the face and content validity. However, it is necessary to complement the psychometric analyses, to use the instrument, if they are satisfactory.

Keywords:
translation; cross-cultural comparison; questionnaires; food preferences; adolescents