[Cross-cultural validation and telephonic reliability of modified "VIDA" questionnaire]

Instrumental activities scales allow the assessment of the functional status of the elderly; however, those currently used have gender bias and insufficient cross-cultural validation. The main objectives of this study were to perform the cross-cultural validation of the modified "VIDA: Daily living of the elderly questionnaire", created in Spain, into the Spanish spoken language in the City of Buenos Aires, and to evaluate its telephonic reliability. The secondary objective was to assess the concurrent validity of the modified VIDA questionnaire with the Lawton and Brody scale. The experts discussion group assessed the questionnaire vocabulary and proposed modifications according to the local language. We performed a pilot study to evaluate its comprehension, vocabulary and length. Afterwards we interviewed patients in person and after 14 days by telephone. We analyzed the global, inter and intra-observer reliability in both, the in person and the telephonic questionnaire, obtaining intra-class correlation coefficients of 0.95 (CI 95% 0.91-0.99), 0.99 (CI 95% 0.97-1.00) and 0.94 (IC 95% 0.87-1.00) respectively. Additionally, we obtained a very good correlation in both modalities between the modified VIDA questionnaire and the Lawton and Brody scale, with no differences regarding the patient's gender. In conclusion, the modified VIDA questionnaire was cross-culturally adapted in Buenos Aires City. Its implementation is reliable and valid both in person and by telephone.