Validation of the Airways Questionnaire 20 - AQ20 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Brazil

• Published in: Jornal de Pneumologia 2003, Vol.29 (1), p.28-35
• Main Authors: Camelier, Aquiles, Rosa, Fernanda, Jones, Paul, Jardim, José Roberto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
• ISSN: 0102-3586; 1678-4642; 0102-3586
• DOI: 10.1590/S0102-35862003000100007

INTRODUCTION: A great emphasis has been placed on health-related quality of life of COPD patients and specific questionnaires have been developed in order to measure it. OBJECTIVE: This study describes the language and cultural adaptation of a new (and short) disease-specific health status questionnaire developed for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases: the Airways Questionnaire 20 (AQ20). METHODS: In order to validate this questionnaire in Brazil, it was initially translated into Portuguese. The cultural adaptation was taken into consideration and then a back translation to English was undertaken, in order to obtain a final Portuguese version. Correlations were made with FEV1, SpO2, BMI and another disease-specific health status questionnaire, the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), previously validated in Brazil. The interclass correlation ratio was done to test the reproducibility of AQ20. RESULTS: The interclass correlation ratio for the total score was alpha = 0.90 (intra-observer variability) and alpha = 0.93 (inter-observer variability) (p < 0.05 for both). The correlation with total SGRQ score was 0.76, with p < 0.001. The average time to answer the AQ20 was 4 min and 6 s. CONCLUSION: The Brazilian Portuguese version of AQ20 is reproducible, of fast application and with good a correlation with SGRQ total score, which makes it a valid questionnaire to measure health status in obstructive patients in Brazil.