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Abstract
Reports in the literature have identified a need for internationally standardized
and reliable measurements to analyse musculoskeletal symptoms. Screening of musculoskeletal
disorders may serve as a diagnostic tool to evaluate the work environment. The Nordic
general questionnaire is a standardized instrument used to analyse musculoskeletal
symptoms in an ergonomic or occupational health context.
To translate and adapt a version of the Nordic general questionnaire into Brazilian
Portuguese and evaluate its reliability.
The cross-cultural adaptation was performed according to internationally recommended
methodology, using the following guidelines: translation; back-translation; committee
review; and pretesting. First, the questionnaire was independently translated into
Portuguese by two teachers and one doctor, and a consensus version was generated.
Second, two other translators performed a back-translation independently from one
another. This version was then submitted to a committee, consisting of six specialists
in the area of knowledge of the instrument, to evaluate its equivalence to the original
instrument. The final version was pretested on 20 subjects randomly selected in an
outpatient clinic. Reliability was assessed by a test-retest procedure at 1-day intervals
using the Kappa coefficient in a group of 40 subjects. The Kappa agreement values
were calculated for each one of the four questions of the questionnaire. The agreement
among the same observers was substantial, varying from 0.88 to 1, according to the
Kappa values.
these demonstrated strong agreement of the instrument, suggesting that the Brazilian
version of the "Standardized Nordic Questionnaire" offers substantial reliability.