Evaluation of the cross-cultural adaptation of Brazilian version of the Sense of Coherence Scale: a systematic review

Abstract Background Brazilian publications involving the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale has increased, however the cross-cultural adaption process is not yet definite. Objective This study aimed to review systematically the cross-cultural adaptation studies of the Brazilian version of the SOC scale, summarizing psychometric properties. Methods Seven electronic databases were searched until January 2019: LILACS, BBO, BDENF-Nursing, Index Psychology, PubMed, EMBASE and Scopus with restriction for Brazil or Portuguese Language. Results It was identified 78 references, which15 papers and 2 thesis were included. Versions with 13 and 29 items were used and items should group in three domains: comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. It was verified that the studies did not consider all specific stages of cross-cultural adaptation to the Brazilian culture, despite presenting methodological steps for content validity and reliability. The internal consistency for the whole scale (Cronbach α) in eight studies for SOC-13 ranged from 0.61 to 0.81 and 4 studies for SOC-29 from 0.77 to 0.87. A single study showed low factor loadings for some items in the main component analysis on SOC-29. Conclusion It is possible to conclude that it is necessary to deepen the research on adaptation of the Brazilian version of the SOC scale.