Brazilian translation and adaptation of theQuestionnaire D'Alimentation

ABSTRACT: Purpose: to translate the French language instrument "Questionnaire D'Alimentation" to Brazilian Portuguese and culturally adapt it for adolescents. Methods: the translation was based on a protocol that consisted of translation to Brazilian Portuguese (by a professor with a Literary Arts degree and a Doctor of Dental Surgery, both fluent in French and Brazilian Portuguese); back-translation into French; revision by a Committee of specialists (two translators, one native and one sworn translator, and two university professors, one being a Doctor of Dental Surgery and a Speech Therapist) and cultural equivalence (pre-test). The version used in the pre-test consisted of 26 questions with five possible responses (5-Likert), distributed in five domains (Food-Mastication, Habits, Meats, Fruits and Vegetables). The pre-test and test-retest was performed with a sample of 20 adolescents (10 boys/10 girls) from public schools of Piracicaba (Brazil). At this stage, the alternative "I did not understand" was added to each question in order to identify those that were not understood. Test-retest reliability was assessed for each domain using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs). Results: in the pre-test, an excellent comprehension of the instrument was observed; in test-retest, ICCs ranged from 0.45 to 0.81 (moderate to excellent agreement). Conclusion: the Portuguese version of the Questionnaire D'Alimentationhas shown to be easy to understand by Brazilian adolescents and useful in the evaluation of the masticatory function and feeding or swallowing disorders that may affect food intake.