CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDATION OF THE PORTUGUESE VERSION OF THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL (PortENAT)

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Health Sciences
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Assessing educational needs is crucial for managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
• Existing tools require cultural adaptation for diverse populations.
• The Educational Needs Assessment Tool (ENAT) needed validation in Portuguese.

Purpose of the Study:

• To cross-culturally adapt and validate the ENAT into Portuguese.
• To ensure the tool accurately assesses educational needs of Portuguese RA patients.

Main Methods:

• A five-step translation and adaptation process was employed.
• Rasch analysis was used to validate the adapted tool with 123 patients.
• Cross-cultural invariance was tested using pooled data.

Main Results:

• The Portuguese ENAT underwent minor phrasing adjustments during field-testing.
• Initial Rasch analysis showed deviations, but grouping dependent items into testlets improved model fit (p=0.917).
• Cross-cultural differential item functioning (DIF) was identified and addressed in 'treatments' and 'support' testlets.

Conclusions:

• The Portuguese ENAT is a validated, unidimensional tool for assessing educational needs in Portuguese RA patients.
• The tool is suitable for clinical practice and research.
• Cross-cultural adjustments are specifically needed for pooled or comparative analyses between Portugal and the UK.