A Brazilian Portuguese version of the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR): a validation study

• Published in: Clinical rheumatology 2013-08, Vol.32 (8), p.1199-1206
• Main Authors: Paiva, Eduardo S., Heymann, Roberto E., Rezende, Marcelo C., Helfenstein Jr, Milton, Martinez, Jose Eduardo, Provenza, Jose Roberto, Ranzolin, Aline, de Assis, Marcos Renato, Pasqualin, Vivian D., Bennett, Robert M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Brazil; Female; Fibromyalgia - diagnosis; Fibromyalgia - physiopathology; Health Care Costs; Humans; Internet; Language; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Pain Measurement; Psychometrics; Quality of Life; Regression Analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Rheumatology; Severity of Illness Index; Sickness Impact Profile; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0770-3198; 1434-9949
• DOI: 10.1007/s10067-013-2259-6

The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) was specifically developed to assess disease severity and functional ability in fibromyalgia patients. In 2009, a revised version of the FIQ was published, the FIQR; this version achieved a better balance among different domains (function, overall impact, symptoms). Here, we present the validity and reliability of the Brazilian version of the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR). Female fibromyalgia patients ( n  = 106) completed an online survey consisting of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire, the original FIQ, and the Brazilian Portuguese FIQR, which was translated by a standard method. Validity was established with correlational analyses between the FIQR, FIQ, and SF-36 items. Three domains were established for the FIQR (function, overall impact, symptoms), and their contribution for the SF-36 subscales was also scrutinized. The Brazilian FIQR validation process showed that the questions performed in a very similar way to the original English FIQR. The new questions in the FIQR symptoms domain (memory, balance, tenderness, and environmental sensitivity) revealed a significant impact in fibromyalgia (FM) patients. The Brazilian Portuguese FIQR demonstrated excellent reliability, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.96. There was a gain on weight of the function domain and a decrease of the symptom domain, leading to a better balance among domains. The FIQR predicted a great number of SF-36 subscales, showing good convergent validity. The Brazilian Portuguese version of the FIQR was validated and found to be a reliable, easy-to-use, and score FM-specific questionnaire that should prove useful in routine clinical practice and FM-related research.